


The Sword & The Sun

by Blizzard96



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Humor, Magic, the other members will appear too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28618527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blizzard96/pseuds/Blizzard96
Summary: Donghyuck sets out to uphold his family's proud legacy of being a hero('s bag carrier). Johnny falls through a fairy ring while trying to get to Advertising 101. Neither of them are prepared to deal with what a true quest might entail.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 24
Kudos: 29





	1. Once Upon a Time

**Author's Note:**

> I made up a name for Donghyuck's brother because I didn't want to use any real ones.

Lee Donghyuck grew up listening to stories his family told about the five swords hanging on the walls in the entryway of their house, three on the left and two on the right. As a young child he was entranced by the weapons and how the gleamed enticingly, as if asking to be picked up and put to the test.

“They all belonged to great adventurers,” his mother would say, “Heroes that slew powerful beasts and rescued fair maidens and were beloved the country over”. His father’s eyes would shine with pride every time he pointed to a long sword with a golden hilt, the guard of which was engraved with a roaring lion loose on a field.

“That man was one of the bravest I ever knew,” his father said, “Noble, ambitious and strong. He protected the weak and fought for what he believed in.”

Whenever his father would get on one of these particular tangents Donghyuck wisely never pointed out that this supposedly noble, upstanding hero never bothered to send a letter to their house aside from the yearly holiday notes that were likely sent out in mass, and even then Donghyuck’s family probably only received one because the hero’s wife reminded him to write down their address on the mailing list.

Donghyuck’s family, truth be told, was not one that produced champions and warriors. They did not go out into the world with the intent of slaying monsters or challenging tyrant rulers to duels. Hell, they didn’t even really use any of the swords on the wall, unless you counted his grandparents occasionally getting one down to show the kids or the times Donghyuck secretly pulled a sword off its display to cut a slice off of a particularly stubborn ham.

No, their family had a lengthy legacy of aiding heroes. Their pride stemmed from being the guiding voice, the backup, the general comedic relief of a heroes journey. And yes, also to carry the bags. Reality was a lot more unattractive than the glamorous quests his family told him about.

“Do I really have to do that?” Donghyuck had once asked. The thought of becoming a glorified pack mule had never appealed to him, no matter what kind of fantastical journey his parents promised he would experience. His father had become angry at the very question and launched into a tirade about how he’d gone on gone his quest like his father before him, and his father before him, and- well, Donghyuck tuned out about three generations into the rant. Suffice to say, he wasn’t squirming out of the family business.

* * *

So there Donghyuck was, twenty years of age, waiting for his epic quest to begin. Well, waiting for someone else’s epic quest to begin so he could tag along like an annoying gnat buzzing around the head of a majestic stallion.

He’d tried in the past to ask his parents whether he could start an apprenticeship with some of the local businesses while he was waiting. Plenty of other children his age in their town had already started learning skills they would need to go into trading, blacksmithing, butchery and the like, so honestly Donghyuck was a good pace behind if he ever wanted a profession that wasn’t just ‘heroic leech’. His parents had, of course, refused almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

“What if you need to go on a quest? What if there’s a prophecy?” His father had said, “You need to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice!”

“I thought you could buy prophecies at the market for ten silver pieces,” Donghyuck said. He’d seen the local diviner wrapped in an array of purple and red robes every time he accompanied his mother to the town market. Needless to say Donghyuck was not impressed by the short, squirrelly man who reeked of dried fish and old incense and tried to hawk his predictions to anyone who so much as made eye contact with him.

His father had just shaken his head, “No, no, that diviner is washed up. His prophecies don’t track further than tomorrow’s forecast.” He ruffled Donghyuck’s hair, which Donghyuck usually hated, but allowed for the time being. “Just wait. Eventually an oracle will come here and we’ll get you a better prophecy.”

And so Donghyuck had waited as the other kids around him settled into their respective professions and trades. Every time he went into town, the locals at the market who recognized him would ask if he had a quest yet and every time he would have to force a smile and say ‘No, not yet’ and they would all click their tongues and shake their heads and assure him that he would find a prophecy sooner or later, as if prophecies grew on trees as abundantly as leaves did. Every night Donghyuck would beg any higher power that might be listening to send someone, anyone, to hurry fate or destiny or whatever was out there along so he could just _leave town already, oh my god why is this so hard??_

His prayers were answered one day when his younger brother burst into the house, throwing open the front door so hard that it banged against the back wall. Donghyuck’s mother shot his younger brother a look from where she was in the kitchen. “Lee Jinwoo!”

“Sorry!” his brother said, not sounding sorry at all. “But there’s news!”

“Oh, news,” Donghyuck deadpanned, not looking up from the potato he was peeling for his mother for dinner.

“Be nice to your brother,” his mother chided from the sink, shaking a dishrag in Donghyuck’s direction. His father grunted in agreement from where he was looking over papers at the dining table.

“Yes, news!” his brother reiterated, not deterred in the slightest, “And you should be happy, Donghyuck! They say that an oracle’s coming to town next week.” At that, the potato fell from Donghyuck’s hand to land in the bucket of peelings with a muted thunk.

His head shot up to look at his brother, his eyes wide with barely restrained hope. “You better not be joking.”

“No joke!” his brother said, placing a hand over his heart in mock solemnity. “I heard from Miss Anita at the fabric shop! Apparently her friend’s husband’s brother was doing trade a town over, and he met an oracle there who said he was heading this direction soon! He should be here in four days or so.” Donghyuck felt his heart leap into his throat. He’d been waiting for this moment for so long that now that the moment was here he wasn’t sure how to feel. He was dizzy with a combination of joy, fear, and anticipation. He set the potato peeler down on the dining table before he dropped that as well before fishing in the bucket of peelings for the half peeled potato. His mind was churning faster than a spinner’s loom trying to process the announcement.

“That’s fantastic news,” Donghyuck’s grandfather called from an armchair common area, snapping Donghyuck out of his thoughts.

His grandmother nodded from the couch. “Indeed. Hyuck’s been waiting so long…”

“Too long,” his father said, putting down his quill pen. His eyes shone with the kind of warmth Donghyuck usually only saw when his father was recounting one of the stories from his own time spent questing. “As soon as the oracle gets in, I’ll take Donghyuck to go buy a prophecy.”

“Oh, I should come too,” Donghyuck’s mother said, looking wistful. “I can’t miss my baby’s first prophecy.”

“I wish I could go,” his grandmother sighed. She looked at Donghyuck regretfully. “Be sure to come right home afterwards! I want you to read it for the first time with all of us.”

“Of course,” Donghyuck said. He was already itching to jump up and run out the door, even though he knew logically that the oracle wouldn’t be in town for days.

When he turned to his mother, she just gave him a small smile with a hint of sadness, as if Donghyuck was already leaving that evening. “We should start making sure you have everything before the oracle arrives.”

* * *

The oracle was not what Donghyuck expected- not that he had much prior exposure to go by, but still. The stories always made oracles sound dark and mysterious, moving in shadows with indistinguishable features hidden by oversized black robes. The oracle, or Ten as he apparently insisted he be called, was nothing like that.

Ten was almost unnervingly normal. He did wear a traveling cloak, but it was a dark green instead of black. The clothes under it were plain, none of the sumptuous velvet or rich silks that more prominent oracles from royal courts wore. He had short black hair that was held out of his face with a neutral smelling oil, and he didn’t reek of incense or dried herbs. Donghyuck was mildly disappointed.

He and his family had found Ten at the market where the other had set up a small blanket next to the woman who sold beaded bracelets and hair clips. Ten’s blanket was as unassuming as his own appearance, its once vivid colors now faded by the sun and time. A few of the other people in the market shot Ten awed or suspicious looks, but no one approached him.

“Is this really the guy?” Donghyuck whispered.

“Of course,” his brother whispered back, “He’s supposed to be like… super good.” Donghyuck remained dubious.

Ten’s blanket had a variety of rolled up scrolls on it with tiny price range cards set in front of them. The cheaper ones on the left were made of fragile rice paper and tied with twine while the more expensive scrolls on the right were made of a more durable parchment tied with a silk ribbon. Some of the pricier ones even bore a red wax seal with a crest Donghyuck didn’t recognize but assumed was Ten’s standard.

“Hello!” Ten said, cheerily waving at the family, “You’ve come for a prophecy, right?”

Donghyuck’s brother gasped, “How did you know?”

“Probably because it’s the only thing he sells,” Donghyuck muttered, raising an eyebrow. His brother flushed slightly, elbowing Donghyuck in the ribs.

Ten laughed. “I sell other things! I have good luck charms, if you want one as well.” He pointed to a pile of polished rocks with runes etched into them. One rune Donghyuck recognized as a protection rune that matched the rune carved into the wood over the front door of his house.

“We’ll just be taking a prophecy,” Donghyuck’s father said, “A good one. It’s his first time.” Donghyuck felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment as Ten gave him a once over.

“Dad!” he hissed.

“I see,” Ten said, smiling, “Well, feel free to browse. Unfortunately, I can't let you open them. I’m sure you’re aware that once you open a prophecy it becomes fate.”

“Of course,” Donghyuck’s father said.

“Then I won’t waste your time explaining it to you,” Ten said, making a grand sweeping gesture to his scrolls, “The more expensive ones are more time consuming. The cheaper ones are fairly mild if you just want him to have a brief quest.” He met Donghyuck’s eyes again and for an instant Donghyuck had the unsettling feeling that Ten was looking straight into his thoughts, “But I think you’re the kind to take a risk, hm?”

“Don’t be scared,” Donghyuck’s mother said, misreading Donghyuck’s apprehension toward Ten as fear, “Just pick one you’re drawn to.”

Donghyuck looked down at the neat line of scrolls. Before they’d left home, his father had told him that price wasn’t an issue and that Donghyuck was free to choose whatever prophecy he wanted, but the amount listed on the most expensive scroll made Donghyuck feel a bit ill. Who had that much gold to blow on a prophecy? He was sure that if he picked that one his family would be eating leaner for the next few months.

The cheaper scrolls wouldn’t do either. His father would think he was chickening out and he’d never hear the end of it from his younger brother. That left only the mid-range scrolls. Donghyuck scanned them carefully, ignoring his brother next to him that was shifting from foot to foot as they waited.

One of the scrolls Donghyuck immediately ruled out. He wasn’t sure why, but it just gave off majorly bad energy. Clearly that one was _not_ meant for him. He was pretty sure Ten snickered at the face he made just looking at it. That left only three other scrolls remaining. One was bound with a red silk ribbon while the other two had black. Donghyuck wondered if it was bad etiquette to pick a prophecy with ‘eenie meenie miney mo’.

After a few seconds of internal debate Donghyuck selected the prophecy with the red ribbon. It was expensive enough to satisfy his dad, but hopefully not so intense that he wound up charbroiled in a dragon’s lair. “I’ll take this one.”

“A good choice!” Ten declared with a grin that was frustratingly unreadable. Donghyuck’s father and Ten negotiated the price for a few minutes as Donghyuck picked up the scroll. He trailed a finger down the smooth parchment, noting how uncomfortably warm the paper grew under his touch. The knot of the silk ribbon seemed to taunt him with how easily it could be unraveled.

Ten minutes later, Donghyuck’s father had handed over the gold and the family set out back to their home as Ten waved to them. “Come back any time!” the oracle called, giving Donghyuck one last knowing wink. Donghyuck flinched as the paper in his hand abruptly flashed ice cold.

* * *

“Read it, read it!” Donghyuck’s brother said as soon as they made it inside their house.

“Slow down, Jinwoo,” his mother said, placing a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder, “We have to get Grandma and Grandpa.”

Donghyuck’s grandparents were already awake and waiting in the common room, his grandmother on the couch with a blanket laid over her legs and his grandfather in his usual armchair by the fire. Donghyuck’s father took his own spot in an armchair on the opposite side of the fire while Donghyuck sat on the couch next to his grandmother. His mother and brother joined him on the couch soon after.

“Oh, this is nice,” his grandmother said, tapping the parchment as Donghyuck pulled the prophecy out, “Good quality.”

Donghyuck’s grandfather snorted. “Back in my day we had to memorize prophecies.” Donghyuck valiantly did not roll his eyes at that.

“Well, I guess it’s time then,” his mother said, giving Donghyuck an encouraging smile, “Are you ready, Donghyuck?”

Donghyuck looked down at the prophecy in his hand, feeling a bit out of his depth knowing that this piece of paper would decide the next course of action his life took. “I. Yes. I think so.” He took a deep breath and steeled his resolve, internally reasoning that if he didn’t do this, his life would just go back to the dreary monotony he’d always lived with.

He lifted a hand and tugged on one end of the silk ribbon. It unraveled with barely a whisper. The parchment unrolled slightly to give Donghyuck a glimpse of spiky black letters. Oh gods, Donghyuck thought, it’s really happening. He barely remembered unrolling the parchment. It was as if he was watching someone else do it. For a split second the words on the page swam before him, hardly making sense to his own eyes, before rearranging into proper phrases.

Donghyuck licked his lips before reading aloud to his family:

_Hope sleeps where the light hits the overgrown,_

_Anger resides where darkness touches the unknown,_

_Fear hides under stone and fire’s embrace,_

_Happiness dances through the water’s resting place,_

_Hunger bends low where the Sun meets the sands,_

_Reason speaks loud where knowledge changes hands,_

_Strength lies weary where fields flame red,_

_Music is silenced by a tight woven thread,_

_Death attempts thrice to undo a wrong,_

_The Sun burns bright and accepts all along_

‘ _What the fuck_ ,’ Donghyuck thought.

“Oh that’s so wonderful!” Donghyuck’s mother said aloud, “How poetic!”

“Nicer than the one your grandfather had,” his grandmother tittered. His grandfather barked a laugh in agreement.

Donghyuck’s father nodded. “A proper prophecy. Leaves a lot to think about, hm?”

“Yeah,” Donghyuck replied weakly. ‘Kind of wish it was a little more obvious though,’ he thought, ‘Why can’t prophecies just be something like get this gem to this temple and be done with it? Why all the mystery and metaphors?’

“I don’t get it,” Jinwoo said, leaning over Donghyuck’s arm to try and squint at the prophecy. Donghyuck shoved his brother off before the other could wrinkle the paper.

“You’re not supposed to ‘get it’, idiot,” Donghyuck said, far more confidently than he felt.

“Don’t call your brother an idiot,” his mother scolded.

“Sorry,” Donghyuck said to his brother in the blandest voice he could muster.

Jinwoo rolled his eyes. “Well, when are you supposed to get started on this anyway? Is there some kind of deadline? Is the world gonna end if you don’t hurry?”

“Most prophecies don’t have deadlines,” his father said, “This one sounds pretty open ended to me.”

“The first line is about hope,” his mother pointed out, tapping a finger on the first phrase, “I bet that’s whoever your hero is.”

At that Donghyuck was immediately brought back down to earth. Right, he thought bitterly, this prophecy wasn’t about him. He was meant to present this prophecy to the _actual_ hero, who would then proceed to go find anger or strength or whatever, and afterwards, once they had a castle and land and a happily ever after, they’d barely even remember to write Donghyuck a thank you letter.

“Can’t wait to meet them,” Donghyuck said dryly, rolling the scroll back up and tying the ribbon back on with a little more force than was necessary.

* * *

Johnny Seo was running on a Monster Energy, two coffees and determination to just get through the next hour. He’d spent the last forty eight hours working all day and night on his stupid term paper for Advertising 101 (and honestly, he didn’t see the need for a research paper in a class that everyone was just taking as a Communication elective), and now all he had to do was go to the classroom and turn it in. The paper probably could’ve used another once over, but Johnny had been staring blankly at his laptop for hours on end. If he had to revise it one more time he was going to end up throwing his laptop out the window to smack some unsuspecting freshman in the head.

‘It’ll be fine,’ Johnny thought, pulling his freshly printed paper off the tray and very carefully stapling it and placing it in a folder so it wouldn’t get wrinkled in his bag. ‘I’ll just go to class, turn the paper in, and then go back to my apartment and sleep until dinner.’

With that plan in mind, Johnny put the folder away in his bag and left the computer room to start the long walk across campus to his classroom. His university was fairly large, and had a good amount of greenery in it to liven up the area. Students were supposed to stick to the paved walkways, but that day Johnny just cut through the trees to ensure he would make it to the classroom on time.

Any other day Johnny would’ve appreciated the sun shining overhead through the branches, but at that moment he was already daydreaming about his bed waiting for him back at his apartment and the leftover two day old Chinese takeout in the fridge that he planned on having for dinner. He was so distracted, in fact, that Johnny didn’t notice that he was cutting through a ring of mushrooms, and found himself tripping on a rock halfway through the circle.

He flailed, unable to regain his balance, and landed heavily on his side, vision temporarily going dark. When his eyes refocused once more, Johnny saw the trees above him had suddenly seemed to grow much taller, their branches now towering over his head, and the forest around him much thicker than he recalled it being. In fact, he couldn’t see any of the college buildings anymore through the tree trunks.

Johnny quickly sat up looking for anything familiar, but all he could see was more trees and bushes. Panic started building in his gut as nothing looked like the familiar college campus. He struggled to his feet, clutching his bag strap tighter to him like it was a lifeline. Where was he? Surely a simple fall couldn’t disorient him that much?

When he spun to his right, his eyes widened in surprise. There was a boy standing there in weirdly out of place clothes that looked like something straight out of a Renaissance fair (did his university have a LARPing group?), complete with a stout, white horse that was looking a bit past its prime and laden with saddlebags.

The boy gave Johnny an unimpressed look. “Are you a hero?” he asked.

“What?” Johnny said, not quite sure how to respond to that, “I’m Johnny?”

“Johnny,” the boy repeated, as if testing out the name, before grimacing, “The bards are gonna have a hard time writing that into a ballad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ten, five drinks in and hunched over a prophecy at 2AM: What rhymes with overgrown?


	2. Does Fate Accept Returns?

[ _Before_ ]

“Now, are you sure you have-?” Donghyuck’s mother began.

“Yes, mom!” Donghyuck said, valiantly resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He knew she was just concerned that he was heading out on his own, but he was an adult now and his patience started wearing thin after the tenth time she’d checked over his rations bag. She somehow kept finding things to try and squeeze into the pockets, and now the bag was ten pounds heavier than it had been that morning.

“Our Donghyuck’s a resourceful boy,” Donghyuck’s father said, patting her on the shoulder. He hefted Donghyuck’s bag up along with the sword that had been commissioned years ago in preparation for Donghyuck’s first quest. “I’ll take all this out now so your mother can’t fuss anymore.” He gave Donghyuck a wink and headed outside.

Donghyuck nodded back in gratitude. “Sounds good!” He turned back to his mother, who was still wringing her hands in worry.

“Be careful when you talk to strangers,” his mother said, “And remember your manners, especially if it’s an old woman! The Fair Folk, witches, and spirits like to disguise themselves as old women for whatever reason. Don’t overstay your welcome. Remember to always carry silver and iron and-!”

“Mom!” Donghyuck said, cutting her off before she could work herself up again, “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”

She huffed in response, “You can’t ask a mother not to worry.” She moved forward to wrap Donghyuck in a hug. Donghyuck stiffened, but relaxed into it, hugging her back. His heart squeezed slightly as it finally hit him that this might be the last time he would see his mother for a very long while.

_If he came back at all._

Donghyuck grimaced at the unwelcome thought, and hugged his mother tighter.

“Come home,” his mother said softly, rubbing his back, “I know people always talk about honor and pride and all manner of things,” her lips twisted into a frown at that, “But above everything I just want you to come home. _You_ are my pride, Donghyuck. All those other pretty sentiments pale in comparison.”

“I will,” Donghyuck managed as his throat tightened with all manner of unnamed feelings. “I promise.”

She smiled, small but genuine, and released him. She then unhooked one of the two light blue crystal necklaces from around her neck, both of which Donghyuck had never seen her go without. “I’ve been building up these protection charms ever since you and your brother were born. My magic has never been very strong, but you should have every advantage you can get.”

Donghyuck took the necklace and clasped it around his own neck before tucking it into his shirt. “Thank you.”

She gave him one last kiss on the cheek. “Get out of here before I start crying. I don't want you to remember me that way.”

Slowly the Donghyuck said his goodbyes to his grandparents and brother. He tried to absorb every last detail in his house, from the roaring fire in the hearth that a stew for dinner was simmering over, to the furs and woven blankets draped over the furniture, to the drying herbs hanging in the window. He knew he would miss it.

“Good luck, Donghyuck,” his grandmother said, gripping his hand tightly in one of her own while firmly patting it with the other. “Be strong and, more importantly, be clever.” She let his hand go with a grin.

“Of course he’ll be clever!” his grandfather said, voice unwavering. He clapped Donghyuck on the shoulder, “He gets it from me!” He looked Donghyuck in the eyes. “The world out there is harsh. Don’t let it make you harsh as well.”

“Bring me back something cool,” Jinwoo said, tugging on Donghyuck’s shirt.

Donghyuck actually rolled his eyes that time. “I’m not going out just to get you a souvenir,” he said.

“It can be small!” Jinwoo insisted, “Just like a gem! Or a piece of gold!”

“Brat,” Donghyuck stated, ruffling his younger brother’s hair, “What are you going to do now that I’m not going to be able to keep you out of trouble.”

“You were the one usually getting us _into_ trouble!” Jinwoo protested, but he was smiling. The grin slowly slid off his face. “Don’t die.”

“I won’t,” Donghyuck said.

“You can’t know that,” his brother said.

“I promised Mom that I wouldn’t,” Donghyuck replied, “Have I ever broken a promise?”

“I guess not,” his brother said, giving Donghyuck a quick hug before darting back and pretending it hadn’t happened. “Don’t forget my gift!”

Donghyuck moved on, smiling wide so he wouldn’t start crying. He glanced up at all the swords in the entryway, feeling the pressure sitting on his shoulders from all of the generations that had come before him. Would he be able to live up to the family legacy, even if he wasn’t meant to be the hero?

Eventually he worked up the courage to head outside where his father was in front of the house tying the last of the saddle bags onto their old but reliable horse, Cherry- she’d been named after her favorite treats. She was a chestnut colored work horse that often was out helping plow the fields, and she had one hell of a nasty kick when startled. Despite that, she’d always been sweet on Donghyuck, and he was happy to keep at least one familiar thing around.

His father looked up when he saw Donghyuck approaching. “She’s got new steel horseshoes on her, so she should be good for a while,” he said, tightening the strap one final time. Cherry looked unbothered by all the extra weight, continuing to graze on the nearby grass.

“Thanks,” Donghyuck said. He and his father stared at each other for a few minutes, not quite knowing what to say and yet scared to let anything go unsaid.

His father eventually moved to place a hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder. “You’ll do well,” he said gruffly, tone heavier than normal.

Donghyuck felt his throat close up again at his father’s confidence in him, “I’ll make you proud.”

“You always have.” His father gave him one more jerky nod before heading back to the doorway where his mother and brother were standing to see him off. Donghyuck turned to heft himself on to Cherry’s back and grab the reins. He looked over his shoulder.

“Remember what I said!” His mother called to him, “I love you!”

Donghyuck flushed but yelled back, “I love you too! I’ll be back soon!” He waved before turning back to urge Cherry on and finally setting off on his journey. It took every ounce of courage in him not to look homeward again.

* * *

Donghyuck spent the first week at a bit of a loss. The prophecy he was using was distinctly unhelpful. His mother’s advice that the first line had sounded like the hero Donghyuck would be looking for was good, but discerning said hero’s location was much more complicated than it had first appeared.

“‘ _Hope sleeps where light hits the overgrown_ ’,” Donghyuck recited as he pored over the parchment for the hundredth time that evening in his room at the inn he’d stopped at. He’d read the entire prophecy forward and backward countless times, but he was no closer to finding the hero. His first thought had been that the hero would appear in a forest. That would fit the ‘overgrown’ part, but there were countless forests that could mean. In fact, Donghyuck was pretty sure that the country was mostly forest.

“Would it have killed the oracle to include a map?” he grumbled. So far he’d explored three different forests, feeling foolish as he had no idea what to even be looking for in the first place. Would there just be some hero sleeping in the middle of the woods that he’d see? Donghyuck would probably have to trip over him just to find him.

The days ticked by sluggishly with Donghyuck riding Cherry from town to town, asking villagers and other travelers if they might have any idea where ‘the light hit the overgrown’ and getting many confused and apologetic looks in response. Even Cherry was starting to give him judgmental glances, or at least that was what it felt like.

It was two and a half weeks into his aimless wandering that Donghyuck finally stumbled across a clue in a tavern he’d stopped by to get some lunch at.

“It might be the Briar Woods,” the barkeep said after hearing about Donghyuck’s plight. “Lots of overgrown trees and bushes out there. Pretty dangerous for a kid like you, though.”

Donghyuck scowled. “I’m twenty.”

“Still,” The bartender shrugged. “As for the light hitting it… I’ve heard that once the sun reaches its highest point it illuminates a specific spot in the woods. Maybe that’s it?”

“It’s the best lead I’ve gotten so far,” Donghyuck sighed, finishing his meal and dropping an extra tip on the bar. “Thanks.”

“Safe travels,” the bartender said, sweeping away Donghyuck’s coins and empty dishes and waving him off.

The Briar Woods were a few hours travel from the village on horseback, and Donghyuck knew that the he would’ve missed the sun’s apex point if he left then, so he stayed the night in a local inn before setting off early the next morning. Fate seemed to be smiling on him with mildly warm weather nice enough that Donghyuck didn’t even need his cloak.

“This could be it, Cherry,” he said, a hopeful flutter in his gut. He’d stamped down the feeling a bit in the past few weeks after dead end after dead end, but something about this lead just felt _right_. He couldn’t help but be excited. Cherry seemed to pick up on his mood, moving even quicker than usual.

Donghyuck wondered what the hero would be like. The stories from his parents and grandparents ranged through quite a few different types. One hero had been a tall, strapping young man who allegedly had the strength of a full team of horses. One had been a quick young girl who was fast enough to rival an aurai, a wind nymph. One had been a hero that could speak with forest creatures and was clever enough to utilize their abilities in unconventional ways. One had been a proficient magic user that could conjure giants of flame with barely a word.

Though the stories had probably been exaggerated throughout the years, much like Donghyuck’s own story about a large fish he’d once caught that seemed to grow in size with each retelling, Donghyuck couldn’t help but imagine finding a capable, strong hero that could slay monsters in one sweep of their sword or run so fast that they could stride across even water.

If the hero was even half as impressive as Donghyuck hoped they would be, he could brace for an exciting adventure.

Donghyuck was jerked out of his speculations as the shape of the forest appeared in front of him and soon surrounded him with enormous trees that were overgrown with layers of bright green moss. The branches were so thick that the sunlight only appeared in jagged shapes on the ground. Donghyuck bit his lip. The sun should be nearing its highest point within the hour.

As he traveled deeper and deeper into the woods following the streaming sunlight, he could feel tension building in his gut. And then he saw it. About a hundred feet away a figure lay reclining on the ground. Were they asleep?

‘This is it,’ Donghyuck thought, ‘This is who I’ve been waiting for.’ He urged Cherry on faster, ready to finally begin his destiny.

* * *

[ _Now_ ]

‘This can’t be who I was waiting for,’ Donghyuck thought, despair flooding his chest as the oddly dressed man in front of him looked around the forest in confusion. The man, Johnny, was definitely not a hero. He had armor, no apparent magic and, in fact, just looked downright nervous. Had this been any other instance, Donghyuck might have felt bad for how lost Johnny looked, clutching his weird bag to himself like it might offer protection, but at that moment Donghyuck was just frustrated.

“You’ve _got_ to be kidding me,” Donghyuck said.

The man blinked at Donghyuck. “I’m not? My name really is Johnny. Johnny Seo.”

“Not that!” Donghyuck snapped, “You. You’re supposed to be a hero!”

“I am?” Johnny asked, sounding baffled.

“Yes! You’re supposed to be able to slay dragons or whatever!”

“There are dragons here?!”

“They’re not _here_ , idiot!” Donghyuck said, “Just in general!” This was probably the point where Donghyuck was supposed to bestow the other with a sword, but honestly Donghyuck was worried that the other might accidentally skewer himself on it.

“Uh, well I’ve never tried to slay a dragon before,” Johnny muttered, “Is this… Are you LARPing?”

“What the hell is LARPing?” Donghyuck asked.

“You know. When people dress up in costumes and go out and hit each other with cardboard tubes or something… never mind. I just. Where’s the Language building?”

“The what building?” Donghyuck crossed his arms as the other man continued to spout nonsense.

“You know,” Johnny made a hand gesture that Donghyuck wasn’t sure what it was supposed to represent, “The Language building. Do you know Professor Kim? He teaches Advertising 101, and I really have to get to class to turn in my report…” he slowly trailed off as Donghyuck face darkened more and more. “You know what? I’m gonna take that as a soft ‘no’.” He shifted his bag up on his shoulder, “I should just go. It was nice meeting you, uh,” he seemed to realize he’d never gotten Donghyuck’s name.

“Donghyuck,” Donghyuck said, feeling all the anger drain out of him at once, leaving only cold disappointment in its wake. He’d gotten it wrong again, and now he was back to square one.

“Donghyuck,” Johnny repeated. “Well, I’ll see you around? Good luck with the re-enactment or whatever. The horse is a nice touch.” He reached out a hand toward Cherry.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Donghyuck said. He took some small satisfaction in watching Johnny jerk his hand back right before Cherry managed to nip at his fingers.

“Right, okay.” Johnny gave Donghyuck an awkward wave that was aborted about halfway through the motion. He started off in a direction, clearly lost in the dense forest. Donghyuck let him go and buried his head in his hands.

Cherry nudged at Donghyuck’s shoulder. “I’m okay, girl,” he said, giving her nose a comforting stroke. Well, he wasn’t, but he wasn’t going to give up that easily. He figured he should probably head back to town to regroup and try and figure out what his next move was. Donghyuck’s head popped up at the sound of footsteps approaching. He looked over his shoulder to see that Johnny had returned, looking sheepish.

“Uh,” Johnny began, “Do you know how to get out of these woods?”

Donghyuck sighed, realizing he wasn’t going to be free of the other anytime soon. “Follow me.” Donghyuck grabbed Cherry’s reins and started back the way he’d entered, Johnny falling into step next to them with a healthy amount of space between himself and Cherry.

“So,” Johnny said, deflating Donghyuck’s hope that they could just make the walk of shame out of the woods in silence. “If you’re not headed to class or whatever, what are you doing out here?”

Donghyuck sighed internally, “I was looking for the hero to my quest.”

“Did he miss his cue or something?” Johnny asked.

“I guess you could say that,” Donghyuck said, still wondering what the other was talking about, “I might be in the wrong spot too, but I really thought I had the answer this time.”

“That sucks, bro,” Johnny said.

“Bro?”

“You know. Like… Brother.”

“I’m not your brother,” Donghyuck stated the obvious, baffled.

Johnny appeared flustered by that response. “I mean, it’s just a friendly term. Like friend!”

“We’re not friends.”

“We’re not friends _yet,_ ” Johnny said, wiggling his eyebrows obnoxiously.

Despite the disappointment sitting heavy in Donghyuck’s stomach, he couldn’t help but smirk. “At least you’ve got a sense of humor. That’s a pretty good trait for a hero.”

“Again with the hero,” Johnny said, “What was this hero that you were looking for supposed to be like?”

“Well…” Donghyuck said, biting his lip, “There’s no one way to be a hero, but typically they’re strong, smart, confident… all those kinds of things.”

“And they can slay dragons,” Johnny recalled.

Donghyuck nodded. “Sometimes. There’s any number of challenges they could face. Fighting wizards, hunting monsters, saving damsels-“

“That sounds a bit sexist,” Johnny said.

“What?”

“Saving damsels. I mean, is it only girls that get kidnapped?” Johnny asked.

“Wh- no!” Donghyuck spluttered, “It’s just- it’s- A figure of speech! Anyone can be kidnapped!” Johnny threw his head back and laughed at that, and Donghyuck glowered at him. They continued in silence for a good while as Donghyuck continued pouting.

“What made you think a hero might be in the forest?” Johnny asked.

Donghyuck gave mental thanks that the forest would be ending soon, and then he’d be rid of the other man. “It was in the prophecy. I thought the forest was what it was talking about but… I guess I was wrong.”

“Oh, a _prophecy_?” Johnny asked, looking amused and putting a bit too much teasing inflection on the last word.

“Yeah?” Donghyuck said, confused by the other’s reaction.

“Does your prophecy rhyme?” Johnny asked.

“It does,” Donghyuck said, only to flush when Johnny started grinning wider at that. “What’s so funny?!”

“Sorry, man,” Johnny said, “I guess I just didn’t know how in depth your roleplaying thing went. It sounds pretty cool. Maybe I should see if I can sign up for your next event or whatever.”

“You’re talking nonsense again,” Donghyuck said.

“Can I see your prophecy?” Johnny asked. “I was pretty good at riddles in middle school.”

Donghyuck paused for a moment then mentally shrugged. It wasn’t like he hadn’t shown the prophecy to others before. Maybe Johnny could actually give him some insight. Given how weird the other man was, Donghyuck wouldn’t be surprised if Johnny turned out to be some kind of mischievous forest spirit or something that might give Donghyuck a hint.

“Sure.” Donghyuck pulled out the parchment and unrolled it just as they were about to hit the end of the woods. He sighed in relief. It’d still be a few hours journey back to town, but Donghyuck was ready to go back and eat some disappointing tavern food before crawling into an uncomfortable inn bed.

He handed the scroll over to Johnny.

Suddenly, as soon as the other’s fingers gripped the edge of the parchment, the words on the scroll burst into a brilliant, golden light, shining for an instant before fading back into their usual black ink.

“Wh-?!” Johnny jerked back, nearly tearing the prophecy in half in the process, as Donghyuck stared on in horror.

“There’s no way,” Donghyuck said aloud, as if his verbal denial would somehow make it true.

Johnny laughed nervously, “What just happened? How did… What kind of technology is that? Was it a hologram or something?” Though Johnny was clearly trying not to freak out, Donghyuck could see the very real alarm in his eyes.

“You’re the hero,” Donghyuck said dully, wishing with every fiber of his being that it wasn’t true. He wondered if it was possible to find that oracle again and ask for a refund. He doubted Ten would agree, but Donghyuck could at least _try_.

“I’m not the hero,” Johnny said.

“Yes, you are!” Donghyuck snapped, rolling up the prophecy and tucking it away before he crumpled it in his fist. “It wouldn’t have reacted like that if you weren’t! Like it or not, it’s your fate now!”

“Bro, I’m just a guy trying to not fail my advertising class,” Johnny said, holding up both hands as if in surrender. “There’s no way I’m…” he trailed off as he glanced behind him out of the woods, eyes widening.

Donghyuck followed his gaze, wondering what had caught the other’s attention. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, just the rolling fields and farms he’d passed on his way there and a distant view of the town.

Johnny paled. “This isn’t campus anymore,” he said.

“What’s ‘campus’?” Donghyuck asked, now thoroughly annoyed with all the weird terms Johnny had been spouting since he’d arrived.

Johnny looked to Donghyuck, then out to the town, then back again. “Where am I?”

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow. “You’re in Briar Woods.”

“No, I mean,” Johnny’s mouth opened and closed as he tried to find the words, “Where is- What is this place called?” He gestured expansively as if trying to encompass the woods, the town and the horizon beyond it.

Donghyuck stared at him blankly. “You’re in Czennia.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Donghyuck: [checks Johnny for a receipt and tag so he can get his money back]


	3. For Want of a Sword

Donghyuck tried to sympathize with Johnny, truly he did, but the other man had been staring blankly into space ever since they’d arrived at the inn two hours ago, and Donghyuck really needed him to move off the bed so that Donghyuck could start unpacking his gear for the night. In those few hours that they’d known each other, Donghyuck had managed to pry a few bits of information from Johnny, like that he was from another country called “America” (possibly in another world), and this “America” was apparently much more technologically advanced than Czennia, but it lacked much of the magic and creatures that Donghyuck’s world had. Also Johnny’s favorite food was “pizza”, not that Donghyuck knew what that was or how that knowledge would benefit him in any way.

“Hey,” Donghyuck said. Johnny turned his blank gaze in the younger’s direction, “You should go wash up. You smell terrible.” Apparently Johnny’s odd clothing didn’t ventilate or clean much better than Donghyuck’s, if the amount of of sweat and dirt visible on Johnny’s shirt was any indication.

Johnny nodded stiffly, finally getting up. “Is it…?”

“Back through that door,” Donghyuck said, pointing to a doorway on the other side of the room. “The tub has fresh water, don’t worry. I’ll order us some dinner while you’re in there. Also,” Donghyuck rummaged through his bag before pulling out a spare set of clothing that his mother had packed and throwing them at Johnny.

“Wh- Won’t these be a little small?” Johnny asked, unrolling a pair of pants. Surprisingly, they looked like they might fit alright.

“Mom used my dad’s measurements,” Donghyuck said, “She thought that if I ran into a hero, they’d probably be bigger and have more, uh, muscle mass than me. I have a set for if you’d turned out to be female as well where my mom used her own measurements.” He frowned. Maybe he could sell those off at the next market he went to now that they were unnecessary. “We’ll probably have to buy you some new clothes anyway, but it’ll work for tonight.”

Johnny blinked. “Thanks, man.”

“Whatever,” Donghyuck said, “Go wash.” Johnny nodded again and headed back toward the bathroom, the wooden door creaking closed behind him.

Donghyuck sighed and started to fully unload his bag onto the bed. He’d have to pick up more rations now that he was traveling with another person. He hoped the food from Johnny’s world wasn’t too different. The last thing Donghyuck needed was a hero with a weak stomach in addition to Johnny’s apparent inability to wield a sword, summon magic, or even ride a horse.

While they’d been walking back Donghyuck had asked Johnny what exactly his skills were if they didn’t include any of the previous categories. Johnny had made a face and said something about ‘marketing strategies’, ‘memorizing girl group choreography’, and ‘being able to eat an entire pizza in one sitting’. Donghyuck might not have known what half of those words meant, but none of it sounded particularly heroic.

“Maybe he’s like one of those clever heroes,” Donghyuck reasoned, setting aside a couple of notebooks, one of which had the first few pages filled with a record of Donghyuck’s journey so far. His grandmother had always said that a hero with wits was more valuable than gold, but Donghyuck thought it might be a while before Johnny was considered particularly competent as the other had no prior knowledge of or experience with Czennia’s politics, magic or economic system. Maybe if they had more time… well, hopefully the quest wouldn’t go on for so long that Johnny and Donghyuck would have to build a trading empire from scratch.

Johnny at least looked fairly physically fit, even if he hadn’t ever swung a sword. Maybe he could work with that. Donghyuck could see if there was any retired soldier or town guard willing to train Johnny in swordplay, ideally in exchange for manual labor instead of their meager supply of gold. That way, at least, Donghyuck could rest assured that Johnny would put up a bit of a fight if they were ever attacked on their quest (of course, Donghyuck would contribute to any confrontation by hiding behind a rock or a tree and yelling advice).

The more Donghyuck thought about it, the more he warmed to the idea. If he could just get Johnny some training, maybe they could take on some low level monster hunts for some extra coin and also boost Johnny’s reputation as a nice bonus. If they managed to hunt anything impressive, they might even be able to win a noble’s favor, which could lead to access to more resources, information and connections, which would undoubtedly help with their travels for the prophecy.

With these thoughts racing through his mind, Donghyuck headed out of their room and down the stairs to the inn’s first floor to order dinner. Twenty minutes later, he was balancing two trays of stew with a couple rolls as he made his way back up to the room. Johnny was already sitting on the bed, apparently finished with his wash if his damp hair was any indication.

“Thanks,” Johnny said as Donghyuck handed him a tray.

“So,” Donghyuck began as Johnny started spooning stew into his mouth, “I think I know what we have to do next.”

Johnny perked up at that. He was probably relieved that one of the two of them had an idea of where to go so that they weren’t just floundering around until the prophecy decided to force them into a bad situation. “What’s that?” he asked around a mouthful of stew.

Donghyuck tried not to wince at the other’s manners. He’d have to work on that too to make Johnny a good hero. “Well according to the prophecy, the next thing we should probably be trying to find is ‘where dark touches the unknown’.”

“Doesn’t sound fun,” Johnny said.

“I agree,” Donghyuck said, pointing a spoon at Johnny, “Which is why you need to get in shape before we even attempt to figure out what that means.”

“I’m in shape!” Johnny protested, putting his spoon down to flex his right arm.

Donghyuck nodded, “Right, but you don’t know how to use a sword. You can lift as much weight as you want, but you’re going to be useless if you end up accidentally stabbing yourself the first time you encounter a monster.”

Johnny grimaced. “I see your point. I would, in fact, like to live to my next birthday.”

Donghyuck firmly agreed with that sentiment. “That’s why tomorrow we should ask around to see if there’s anyone who might be willing to train you. Of course, they might ask for something as compensation, but leave the negotiations to me.”

“Okay,” Johnny agreed. “I’ll trust you. Not like I really have any other choice.”

“A wise decision,” Donghyuck said, choosing to ignore the last part of Johnny’s sentence, “Don’t worry, it’s in my best interest that we both stay alive for as long as possible.”

* * *

Johnny wasn’t sure what to expect when trying to find a sword instructor. Donghyuck had informed him that there wasn’t a call list or any newspaper ads (“Whatever the fuck that means,” Donghyuck had said) when it came to locating a mentor.

“Usually people will know someone, or they’ll know someone who knows someone,” Donghyuck said with a shrug, “Word of mouth travels quickly.”

And so he and Johnny had traveled around the village chasing leads on sword instructors, from former soldiers, to blacksmiths, to local guards. They were usually turned away at the door, and the couple times they did manage to convince the potential candidates to consider teaching Johnny, the price they were given was too high for Donghyuck and Johnny to pay. Johnny wondered if they’d ever find someone willing to teach him or if he’d just end up dead on the side of the road due to a dragon attack or whatever.

Johnny almost laughed as the sheer ridiculousness of the situation hit him once again. Here he was in a fantasy world trying to find someone to teach him how to swing a sword so he could fulfill some prophecy and, hopefully, find a way home. He never would’ve imagined such a thing happening before. He actually had never been big on fantasy stories, aside from marathoning Lord of the Rings once with a friend. He was just a college student who had been keeping his head down and trying to make it through the semester though, at this rate, Johnny wondered if he’d even make it back in time for graduation.

The day passed in a disappointing blur, Johnny doing his best to push aside his depressing thoughts and trail Donghyuck as they followed up on the various tips from the townspeople. Eventually they came to the last lead of the day, a small house on the outskirts of the village. Reportedly a retired knight lived there, which was a bit of an odd choice for someone who had apparently been fairly distinguished while he was serving the crown, but Johnny could see the appeal of a nice life out in the countryside after fighting so many battles.

“If this doesn’t work, we’ll try traveling to another village tomorrow,” Donghyuck said, patting Cherry’s neck.

“Okay,” Johnny said without much enthusiasm.

Donghyuck huffed in annoyance, “I’m trying to keep you _alive_.”

Johnny felt a brief flash of guilt. “I know,” he said, trying to put as much sincerity as he could into his voice, “I’m sorry. I’m just… this is a lot to adjust to.”

Donghyuck seemed to soften slightly. “Yeah. I know you probably didn’t choose to be the hero so I can’t blame you, but that’s kind of the frustrating part.”

Johnny nodded. He didn’t totally understand Donghyuck’s past, but he could tell from the bits and pieces that Donghyuck revealed that the younger was doing this for his family, and that if he failed it would be devastating (and possibly deadly). Johnny could understand wanting to do his parents proud, it was the reason he went to college in the first place.

“Fingers crossed?” Johnny said as the house in the distance grew closer and closer.

“I don’t know what that means,” Donghyuck said.

“It means something like ‘let’s hope we get lucky’,” Johnny said.

“Oh, well then fingers crossed,” Donghyuck said with a nod. Johnny grinned. Once they reached the door, Donghyuck lifted a hand and knocked swiftly three times on the wood. There was a clatter of what Johnny assumed was cookware.

“I’m comin’!” a gruff voice called through the door. Seconds later the door swung open to reveal an older man that looked somehow exactly like how Johnny had imagined a veteran knight to look. He was shorter than Johnny but sturdier, with a worn face, scraggly gray beard, and a number of scars running up and down his muscular arms. He gave Donghyuck and Johnny a once over. “What do you kids want?”

Donghyuck straightened. “We’re here to ask if you would could help teach Johnny swordplay. He’s a hero and-“

“Not interested,” the man said, moving to swing the door shut.

Johnny moved almost without thinking, darting forward to wedge his foot between the door and frame. “Ow!” he muttered as the door hit his foot hard.

The former knight glared at him. “Beat it, kids. I’m done with all that.”

“Please!” Donghyuck begged, “We have this prophecy-“

“Not. Interested,” the man stated, “I dealt with prophecies and heroes for forty years. I’m sick of it.”

“Sir,” Johnny tried, “I’m just trying to get home. I’m not even from Czennia, and honestly I couldn’t care less about this prophecy.”

“Hey,” Donghyuck protested.

Johnny chose to ignore him, “The only hope I have of getting back home though is trying to finish this destiny or whatever and I’m willing to do anything if you help me not die.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “You should be careful about promising a stranger ‘anything’.”

“It’s true though,” Johnny said, desperation leaking into his voice, “I just need to get home. I…My family and all my friends are back home, and I’d really prefer not to die because I ended up impaling myself on a sword that I don’t even know how to use.”

At that the knight grunted. His beard twitched like he’d almost smiled. “Hm.” He released the door and Johnny sighed mentally in relief now that his foot was no longer being crushed.

“Does this mean you’ll help?” Donghyuck asked cautiously.

“I’m not promisin’ anything yet,” the man said. “I’m guessing the two of you don’t have much to offer in exchange for my services.” Johnny and Donghyuck both grimaced.

“No,” Donghyuck began, “But we’re willing to work in exchange for lessons!”

“I don’t need any help around here,” the knight said. He appeared to think for a moment, “But there is an issue that my friends have been having up in the cliffs.” He jerked his head toward some black cliffs that Johnny could see in the distance beyond the house. They were threatening even from where they were standing, with unnatural jagged shapes that somehow managed to appear purely in shadow no matter where the light hit them.

“They keep buggin’ me about it, but I’m far too old to be doing that kind of work. Why don’t you two go out there and build some muscle? Then I’ll train you when it’s all’s said and done.”

“That’s it?” Johnny asked dubiously. Donghyuck immediately elbowed him in the ribs.

“We’ll do it,” Donghyuck agreed.

“Great,” the man nodded, “Just tell them that Dehnor sent you, and they should put you right to work.”

* * *

The trip out to the cliffs was uneventful, though Johnny couldn’t help how the sinking feeling in his stomach continued to grow as their destination drew closer. The rocky shapes towered over their heads, and the few paths Johnny saw leading up the cliff faces were narrow and in danger of crumbling any minute.

“Are you sure about this?” Johnny asked for the fifth time.

Donghyuck just rolled his eyes from where he sat atop Cherry. “It’ll be fine. We’ll go out there, haul some rocks around, and then get you a swordplay instructor. Easy.”

“Something tells me that it won’t be so simple.”

“You’re being paranoid. Just because there’s a prophecy doesn’t mean your life is always in danger.”

“Are you sure?”

“Between the two of us, who knows people who actually dealt with prophecies?”

“You, I guess.”

“Right. So don’t worry about it.”

“Famous last words,” Johnny muttered under his breath, but they lapsed back into silence as they continued onward.

They were only about a half hour from the base of the cliffs when Cherry started shifting agitatedly. Donghyuck had to get down to try and calm her, but it didn’t seem to work as she started snorting and scuffing her hooves. Donghyuck managed to continue leading her on foot by the reins, but she clearly did not want to continue on the path they were on.

“In my world we call that a bad omen,” Johnny said. Donghyuck shot him a withering look, though even he was starting to look a bit uneasy. The rest of the journey was made in a tense silence. Donghyuck had even handed Johnny a sword that Johnny had seen hooked to Cherry’s saddlebags.

“I don’t know how to use this,” Johnny said once they’d reached the base of the cliffs.

“That makes two of us,” Donghyuck said, “I’d bet on your muscles before mine, though.” They looked around the cliff face and noticed a small camp of tents not too far away. A handful of men and women stood around the camp site, all of them heavily armored.

“Hello?” Donghyuck called, getting their attention. A black haired woman wearing heavy plate armor with a battle axe strapped to her back walked out toward them, clearly the leader of whatever the group was. “Dehnor sent us here to help?”

She looked them up and down before snorting. “Of course he did. That bastard _would_ send a couple kids to do his job.”

Johnny didn’t like the sound of that. “What exactly _is_ the job?” Johnny asked.

“Nothing you two would be able to handle,” she said. Johnny didn’t know if he should be offended or relieved by her assessment.

Donghyuck had apparently settled on ‘offended’. “We’re pretty capable!”

She laughed. “Not trying to insult you, but I doubt the two of you have any experience with dragon slaying.”

Johnny blinked, and Donghyuck abruptly paled. “Dragon slaying?” Johnny asked faintly. “Why the hell would he send us out here if he knew that neither of us could even use a sword?!”

“Probably to get us off his back,” the woman sighed. “Don’t worry, he wouldn’t have expected us to send you up there,” she pointed to the looming, dark cliffs, “And we won’t. He probably thought we’d play along to try and scare you off.”

Donghyuck scowled. “He could’ve just said no.”

“To be fair, he did,” Johnny said. Donghyuck kicked him in the shin. “Ow!”

“You two should just head back to town,” she said, “No point staying out here.” Donghyuck frowned deeper, but Johnny just felt resigned (and maybe a bit relieved).

“No,” Donghyuck said, startling both of them.

“No?” Johnny echoed, “What do you mean ‘no’?”

“I _mean_ we came all the way out here and he said he’d teach us if we helped out, so if we can help in someway then he has to do it!”

“Uh, did you miss the dragon slaying part?” Johnny asked incredulously.

Donghyuck turned to the woman. “Please, there has to be something we can do! We can carry bags or polish armor or weapons or something! We just… Johnny really needs sword lessons and helping you is the only way we can get them.”

The woman sighed. “Well, I guess we do need help getting our stuff up the cliffs. But you two have to promise to stay out of our way once the fighting starts.”

“Oh, definitely,” Donghyuck said, nodding vigorously, “We will be so out of your way. You won’t know we’re there. We might _actually_ not even be there.”

“Fine,” she said. “You guys got a tent for the night? We’ll head up the cliffs in the morning.”

“Yep,” Donghyuck said before Johnny could say anything. He was already unhooking something from Cherry.

“Great,” the woman said, “What are your names, by the way?”

“I’m Donghyuck, that’s Johnny.”

She nodded. “I’m Captain Jieqiong. Just follow what the others are doing and you’ll make it out alive. Probably.” She finally gave them both a small smile before turning back to the camp to inform the other people in the campsite about Johnny and Donghyuck.

Johnny turned to the younger. “We’re going to die.”

“No, we're just going to be carrying the bags,” Donghyuck said.

“And what if all these knights die attacking the dragon?”

“Then we go back and tell that guy what happened and he’ll have to help you anyway because we held up our end of the bargain.”

Johnny frowned, but knew there was no way either of them would possibly walking out a confrontation with a dragon. “Fine,” he said eventually, “But I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“It’s probably not,” Donghyuck agreed, “But it’s the only one we have. Now help me set up the tent.”

As Johnny helped Donghyuck struggle through hammering in tent pegs, he couldn’t help glancing up at the craggy cliff face that seemed all the more imposing now that he knew what lurked up there. He might have been imagining things, but it almost looked like smoke was trailing upwards from one of the distant ledges. He shivered, though that had nothing to do with the chill of the night setting in.

“Don’t worry,” Donghyuck said, as if saying it for the thirtieth time might make it more reassuring, “We’ll both get through this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Donghyuck: Dear Mom and Dad, you told me that fighting a dragon is usually the main quest, but you know how I've always been impatient...


	4. Dunces & Dragons

The morning the group was set to head up the mountain was deceptively calm. There was no birdsong or rustle of wildlife or even just a whisper of wind. There was only a serene stillness. It was like the smooth, unbroken surface of a pond where alligators and sea serpents lurked just beneath the water.

The hair on the back of Donghyuck’s neck was practically standing on end as he helped Johnny pack away their tent. It felt like a storm was on the horizon. Neither of them had slept well the night prior if the beginnings of dark circles under Johnny’s eyes were any indication. Donghyuck himself had spent hours tossing and turning, wondering if he and Johnny should just pack up all their belongings and leave, sword instructor be damned. Ultimately he’d decided that they needed to stick it out. He wasn't confident in them finding someone else willing to teach Johnny for essentially free.

The rest of the camp looked similarly tense as they brought down their tents, packed supplies onto a cart, and shuffled through a light morning morning meal. No one seemed to have much of an appetite. Donghyuck and Johnny kept to themselves throughout the tense breakfast, and hadn’t bothered to get the names of any of the other knights the night prior. It appeared none of them were interested in learning more about Johnny and Donghyuck in turn.

‘That was reasonable,’ Donghyuck thought, ‘After all, why bother getting to know someone who might be dead before the day was over?’

“Alright,” Captain Jieqiong said, “We’ll head up the path in the order we planned with our two volunteers,” she shot Donghyuck and Johnny a look, “Bringing up the rear with extra supplies. Do not keep fighting if I give the order to retreat. I do not need anyone trying to be a hero. Am I clear?” There were various grunts of assents around the campsite.

Captain Jieqiong frowned. “I said ‘Am I clear?’”

“Yes, captain!”

“Good. Finish breaking camp. We’re heading out in half an hour.” Everyone went back to checking their mounts, armor and weapons.

“Just stay in the back,” Johnny was muttering to himself as he clumsily strapped the sword Donghyuck had given him to his waist.

“That’s right,” Donghyuck said. Johnny jumped as he probably hadn’t intended for Donghyuck to overhear him. Donghyuck kept talking anyway, as he usually did when he was dealing with nerves. “We stay in the back away from all the fighting. If anything happens, we run back down without a second thought.”

Johnny looked a bit conflicted, but nodded. Donghyuck shot him one last glance before pushing Cherry toward the supply cart to hook her up to it. They’d be moving slower, hence why they were at the back. Donghyuck made sure he knew how to quickly unhook her in case they had to cut the cart loose and run.

Eventually, the time came and the group set off down the rocky paths that trailed up the cliffs. Donghyuck glanced at Johnny, who was gripping the hilt of the sword so tightly that Donghyuck wondered if his fingers would leave impressions behind on the grip. Donghyuck hoped that someday Johnny would be able to wield the weapon confidently instead of holding it in the same way that Donghyuck’s younger brother had used to clutch a stuffed toy to his chest whenever he was scared.

The climb was long with a few twists and turns snaking up the side of the cliff. Luckily it wasn’t too steep, so Cherry managed to continue on without too much trouble. Despite this, she still snuffled in agitation as Donghyuck kept a steady hand on her reins, murmuring reassuring words to her that he wasn’t quite confident in himself. From what Donghyuck could see, Johnny’s face was losing more and more color the higher they climbed.

After an hour of slow hiking, the group finally came to a wide flat ledge that jutted out from the cliff face and held the entrance to a cave. From where he was in the back, Donghyuck couldn’t make out much of the cave. He was grateful for that. At the moment there was no noise coming from the opening, but Donghyuck was certain that silence wouldn’t last.

Captain Jieqiong nodded to her knights and motioned for them to split into two groups on either side of the cave entrance. Donghyuck, for his part, plastered himself to the rocky wall of the cliff as far out of the way as possible. Johnny did the same to his right, flexing his fingers on the hilt of his sword. Donghyuck silently prayed to whatever god might be listening that Johnny wouldn’t have to use it or else they would probably both be screwed.

He watched as Captain Jieqiong lifted a hand and gave what must have been the signal to move forward as the two teams of knights rushed into the cave all at once. Donghyuck and Johnny waited with bated breath as they were left to stew in their thoughts once more. Though he strained his ears, he couldn’t even make out the knight’s footsteps after five minutes, which only let his imaginetion spiral into more and more terrifying directions.

Twenty minutes later there was a loud, ground shaking roar that echoed from the depths of the cave and caused tiny rocks at Donghyuck’s feet to scatter. He jumped so high at the shock of it, he nearly fell over. Johnny actually did fall over next to him, though the older man was on his feet quickly once more, fumbling for the sword hilt, though he wasn’t quite able to draw it in his shock. He eventually gave up, and when his hands dropped to his side, Donghyuck could see the other’s fingers were trembling slightly.

“Oh god,” Johnny said, voice pitched higher than usual as he looked to Donghyuck then to the cave and back again. “Was that…?”

“Safe to assume that would be the dragon,” Donghyuck said, intending to sound sarcastic but wavering more toward terrified. Johnny was clearly just as shaken, and Donghyuck briefly wondered if it would be acceptable for the two of them to run screaming down the cliff since it wasn’t as if there was anyone around to see their- ahem- _strategic retreat_.

“Ah,” Johnny said.

After the initial roar, Donghyuck could hear the very distant shouts of the knights and a muffled cacophony. He shuddered as he watched a thin trail of smoke trail out from somewhere deeper in the cave. He had no doubt what the source of that fire might be.

“How… how big are dragons here?” Johnny asked suddenly. He’d asked the question casually, but judging by how pale he was Donghyuck imagined that Johnny was trying to distract himself from the nature of the situation they were currently in.

Donghyuck was a bit startled, but grateful for the distraction from trying to figure out whether the smell he just caught wafting through the air was just smoke or could possibly be burning flesh. “Well, dragons can vary in size,” he said, wincing as a high pitched scream cut through the muddled din of yelling and clanging. “Baby dragons are typically no higher than your shin, but some can grow to be,” he gestured to a ledge about twenty feet over their heads.

“Oh,” Johnny said. He swallowed dryly. “That’s big.”

“Yeah,” Donghyuck said.

“Where I come from, dragons tend to look different based on what part of the world you’re in.”

“I thought you said your world didn’t have dragons.”

“We don’t, they’re just stories.”

“Oh.”

“Some of them have four legs, some have two legs, some even have no legs. There are some with big leathery wings and others that have feathers and some that live in the sea,” Johnny rambled.

Donghyuck nodded. “We have sea dragons too, but they’re usually called sea serpents. They're a lot bigger than land dragons. Most of the non-sea dragons in Czennia can fly-“ he cut off abruptly as a particularly harrowing shriek of metal on stone rang out, setting his teeth on edge.

Johnny winced as well, before recovering enough to look at the cave entrance. “So they can fly? That explains why we’re so high up.”

“Right,” Donghyuck said, “They like to put their hoards in hard to reach places so no one will steal their treasures.”

“This place wasn’t too hard to reach,” Johnny noted.

“Well, I imagine most people with self preservation skills don’t approach a cliff where a dragon is rumored to be lurking anyway,” Donghyuck said.

“Fair.”

“Also the path up here was pretty narrow.” He gestured to the rocky pathway they’d traveled on, “It’s wide enough for Cherry and the cart, but you’d have a hard time getting a full calvary up the cliffs, and forget any heavy weaponry like a ballista. If the dragon flew out of the cave and saw a bunch of knights lined up here, they’d basically be sitting ducks.”

Johnny nodded, absorbing that information. “So are dragons smart here then?”

“What?” Donghyuck asked, brows drawing together in confusion.

“It sounds like this dragon was smart enough to figure out how it might be attacked and how best to defend itself. Are they, like, intelligent? Can they speak?”

Donghyuck thought a moment about the stories his father used to tell him about dragons. His father had never dwelt much on the intelligence of the species, instead lecturing Donghyuck on a dragon’s prominent weak points, but he had mentioned a few instances where a dragon and hero had exchanged words before fighting. “I think so,” he said, “I doubt this one would be willing to listen to any arguments we could make right now though.”

As if on cue, another loud roar split the air. Donghyuck and Johnny both clapped their hands to their ears. Cherry reared up and then scrabbled backwards. She clearly wanted to turn around and run, but she was hindered by the cart.

And then… it was silent.

Donghyuck slowly lowered his hands from his ears, disturbed by how little sound there was, as if his ears had popped and the world had gone all muffled. Johnny was doing the same, rubbing at his ears and shooting Donghyuck a look of confusion.

“Did they win?” Johnny whispered, as if scared to speak any louder.

“I don’t know,” Donghyuck replied, anxiety building in his gut. Surely if the knights were victorious they would have heard some kind of noise by now. The two of them let five minutes pass, but there was no noise coming from the inside of the cave. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. The silence expanded around them like a soap bubble that both of them were too afraid to break.

“I don’t think they won,” Johnny finally said, dread saturating his voice. Donghyuck felt an icy grip of fear clench his heart as he found himself agreeing.

“Let’s go back,” Donghyuck said, moving to turn Cherry around. The last thing he wanted was for the dragon to come out looking for any more threats.

“Should we…” Johnny began, and Donghyuck immediately knew he wouldn’t like where this was going, “Get their bodies?”

“Absolutely not,” Donghyuck said, almost before the last word had left Johnny’s mouth. “That’s just asking to be burnt to ashes. We agreed to run if things went badly.”

“I know!” Johnny said, “But… we don’t know if any of them are still alive! What if they won and they’re just looking over the treasure or deciding what to do with the dragon’s body?”

“What if the dragon won and we’re just presenting ourselves on a silver platter for it to eat?” Donghyuck countered.

Johnny frowned. “I just… I just want to see.”

“No.”

“Donghyuck-“

“ _No._ ”

“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try to help,” Johnny said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Donghyuck groaned internally, rubbing a hand down his face. Of course _now_ of all times was when the other decided to be a hero. Donghyuck wanted to scream and rage and maybe try and toss Johnny in the cart and get the hell out of there despite the other’s protesting, but he knew this was a battle he wasn’t winning, if only because Donghyuck was certain that he wouldn’t be able to lift Johnny himself.

He scowled as he looped Cherry’s reins over a nearby rock. “Fine,” he said, “But if we die, I’m haunting you.”

* * *

Johnny unsheathed his sword with much trepidation. The weapon was lighter than he’d expected, but still felt awkward in Johnny’s hands. It didn’t help that his palms were so sweaty that he was worried that the hilt might slip from his grasp if he even thought about swinging it. And then he’d trip and fall and also die. He gave Donghyuck a look that conveyed how terrified he felt, but Donghyuck just gave him a glare that said ‘This was your idea. Dumbass.’

“Okay, we’re just going to look,” Johnny muttered, “If we see any part of the dragon moving, we’re out of there.”

“No arguments from me,” Donghyuck replied. “Lead on.”

‘Right,’ Johnny thought, ‘Heroic thoughts.’ He gathered all his courage and peeled away from the cliff wall to stand in front of the cave entrance, eyes heroically squeezed shut and partially bracing to be immediately burnt extra crispy. When he didn’t feel his skin being scorched off of his bones after a few seconds, he cracked one eye open.

The cave yawned inward before him, but Johnny could only see the darkness. It was still silent. He turned to Donghyuck, who raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

“Uh,” Johnny said, feeling a bit sheepish after that anticlimactic moment, “Do you have a torch?”

Donghyuck sighed. “Yeah.” He walked back to the cart and rummaged through the supplies and bags until he pulled out a torch and dipped it in some oil. He messed around with a couple pieces of flint until they sparked, causing the end of the torch to immediately burst into flames. “Can’t wait for it to see us coming down the tunnel.”

“I get the feeling it won’t matter either way,” Johnny said.

“You’re probably right,” Donghyuck said, “Most dragons have excellent dark vision.”

With that encouraging bit of information Johnny and Donghyuck began their slow descent into the cave, Johnny leading with his sword awkwardly held in front of him and Donghyuck walking behind and keeping the torch aloft. The path wound onward for a long time. He’d started out trying to keep time by steps, but eventually lost track.

Johnny was starting to understand why it’d been so hard to hear anything from the entrance as the tunnel continued to stretch on and on. The light from the torch was a bit disorienting as it threw out shadows to dance upon the cave walls. Johnny briefly had the thought that if this was one of his stupid video games that he would’ve considered the atmosphere tacky and overdone, but at that moment he was too busy trying not to drop his weapon and jumping at any sound louder than the crunching of rocks under his boots.

Without warning, the tunnel opened up into a wide cavern. The new space had walls stretching out on either side into the darkness and the ceiling extending high over their heads, far up enough that Johnny couldn’t see the top.

The first thing Johnny noticed about the chamber was that he might not have to worry about the torch at all as the cavern was lit by the harsh blaze of six of bonfires crackling on pyres set at strategic distances around the cavern. The second thing Johnny noticed (and he could hardly miss it) was a distant gleam of gold sparkling under the fire light and throwing shimmers off around the walls and ceiling, illuminating the room even further.

The third thing Johnny noticed was the dragon. The very large, _alive_ dragon, that sat less than two hundred feet away from them, reclining on a pile of gold (a part of Johnny wondered if that was actually comfortable, or if the dragon was just enduring it for the aesthetic). The dragon’s bright red scales gleamed in the firelight, and it’s leathery red and yellow wings expanded and contracted with each labored breath it took.

It was then that Johnny noticed a sizable gash in the dragon’s side that sluggishly leaked crimson colored blood onto the pile of gold below it. Despite the serious, if not mortal, wound, the dragon’s glowing yellow lamp like eyes locked on Johnny and Donghyuck, its slit pupils contracting as they entered the chamber. In its eyes Johnny could see the existence of a fierce intelligence.

“Oh _shit_ ,” Johnny blurted, life abruptly flashing before his eyes. Only instead of it being a touching montage of all the happy times in his existence it was more like a highlight reel of every stupid thing he’d ever done up until this moment, ultimately culminating in this particularly massive fuckup. He simultaneously became acutely aware of the fact that neither he nor Donghyuck were wearing armor, another stupid decision.

Perhaps it was the unexpectedness of the outburst or the fact that Johnny clearly had no idea what he was doing, but the dragon just snorted in what was either annoyance or amusement and didn’t bother rising from its position, though its eyes still lazily tracked Johnny and Donghyuck.

“Okay,” Donghyuck hissed, tugging on Johnny’s shirt sleeve, “Time to leave!”

Johnny, instead of heeding Donghyuck’s wise advice, decided to open his mouth and make his second stupidest decision of the day. “Uh, hello, Mr. Dragon.”

“Oh my gods,” Donghyuck muttered, followed by the sound of what Johnny assumed was his palm impacting his forehead. The dragon itself seemed to be similarly nonplussed but at least didn’t look like it was considering violence, so Johnny continued to do what he usually did when he was uncertain, and fake it with all the bravado of college student flying by the seat of his pants during a presentation he’d thrown together fifteen minutes before class.

“We’re not here to hurt you, uh, not that we could,” Johnny said. The dragon grunted as if to say ‘you got that right’. “We just want our… friends?” Were the knights friends? That might be too generous a term. “Associates? If that’s okay?”

The dragon huffed, a thin stream of smoke trailing out from its nostrils. Its eyes rolled toward a dark corner of the chamber, and Johnny followed its line of sight to see a heap of dark forms piled together. After a second of his eyes adjusting, he recognized the sharp angles of armor and weapons.

“Oh gods,” Donghyuck said, sounding a bit sick.

“Are they dead?” Johnny asked. As if on cue, a groan sounded from the pile, but no movement came from it afterwards. Relief crashed through him. “They’re alive, at least, some of them are.”

He turned back to the dragon. “We can… take them off your hands, er, claws if you want.”

The dragon grunted. “Get them out of my sight.” Johnny jerked back as a low voice rumbled from the dragon’s throat, the sound reminiscent of rocks tumbling down a cliff.

“Okay!” Johnny squeaked, sheathing his sword quickly. He didn’t think the dragon would kill him after that (at least he hoped it wouldn’t), and he was eager to get out of that cavern as quickly as possible. As he approached the fallen forms of the unconscious knights with Donghyuck, he came to a grim realization at the same time the younger did.

“We’re not going to be able to carry them all out at once,” Donghyuck said. There were at least ten knights, and Johnny could probably only manage lift one with all the heavy armor and dead weight. He doubted Donghyuck could carry even that much.

Johnny turned back to the dragon with hesitation. “Uh, Mr. Dragon?” The dragon glanced at him. “We… might have to come back a few times to get all of them. If that’s okay. Please?” The dragon stared at him unblinkingly, Johnny sweating through his shirt the whole time, before finally glancing away.

“Whatever,” it rumbled. It was such an unexpected sentiment to hear from a dragon that Johnny felt his jaw actually drop, and he stood gaping at the dragon’s back for a good few minutes. Beside him, Donghyuck looked similarly incredulous. It was only when Johnny heard another moan from one of the knights that he jolted out of it.

On auto-pilot, Johnny bent down and picked up the closest body. Donghyuck helped him heave the unconscious man onto his back, and they set off for the entrance. Johnny paused at the beginning of the tunnel. “Uh, we’ll be back?” The dragon didn’t make any noise of acknowledgment beyond closing its eyes, but since Johnny wasn’t a smoking heap of ashes on the ground, he took that as an agreement.

He and Donghyuck rushed through the tunnel to the entrance, hardly believing that the dragon was not only letting them leave, but also return. The trip back through the cave seemed shorter, but that might have just been from the euphoria of making it through an encounter with a dragon- a _dragon_ \- without ending up dead.

When they could taste the fresh air of the outside world once more, Johnny wanted to weep with relieff. It was only when he laid the unconscious knight down that he realized his shoulders were burning from the strain of lifting an adult man in full battle armor. Johnny rotated his shoulder to stretch out the stiffness and grunted when the joint popped. He nearly groaned at the thought of doing that nine more times.

“He’s got a few broken ribs,” Donghyuck said. He’d taken the initiative to push aside the knight’s armor to examine the damage. Johnny could already see a swarm of purple bruises on the knight’s chest and stomach, like the man had been knocked off his feet by something large and heavy. Johnny had a few guesses if he recalled the size of the dragon’s tail correctly. “Help me get him on the cart,” Donghyuck ordered

Johnny and Donghyuck carefully moved the injured knight, trying hard not to jostle the injured man’s chest too much as they peeled him out of his armor. The drive back down the cliff would be rough, and Johnny hoped, for the other man’s sake, that he would remain unconscious throughout the entire trip. After Donghyuck did what he could with their limited salves and bandages, they both looked back to the cave entrance. Despite knowing that a dragon waited inside, the cave was somehow less threatening, at least Johnny thought so.

“Again?” Johnny asked.

“You’ve gotten us committed now,” Donghyuck said.

And with that they began the long process of hauling the rest of the knights out of the cave, all still unconscious and with a wide assortment of injuries. A couple of them had burns on their arms and legs, while others suffered severe bruisings or broken bones like the first knight. When Johnny finally found Captain Jieqiong, it appeared as though she had managed to avoid more serious injuries, but she still had a nasty gash on her shoulder in the shape of a dragon claw. Johnny was sure it would scar.

On their final trip back into the cave’s depths, Johnny looked over the red dragon once more. It hadn’t said anything to them on any of their other retrieval visits, but it was always watching the two of them carefully, as if anticipating some kind of sneak attack. Though it was laying down, Johnny had no doubts that it could move quickly enough to tear them apart if it caught any sign of hostility.

Even now its gaze never left the two of them as they moved toward the final knight. Johnny noticed that its side was still bleeding, though the flow of blood had slowed a bit since the first time they’d seen it. Did dragons have some kind of speed healing ability?

“Do you… need help?” Johnny asked the dragon, wincing a bit at how ridiculous the words sounded once they had left his mouth. Donghyuck shot him a sharp look, but Johnny just shrugged back helplessly.

The dragon snorted, which Johnny took this time as a laugh. “You? Help me? Now why would you do that?”

That was a good question, why _would_ he do that? Johnny thought for a minute about why he had offered at all and came up empty. “I don’t know,” he said honestly, “You just look like you need help. And we can help, maybe? We have bandages and stuff…” he trailed off.

“You’d offer me aid that easily?” the dragon said, mockingly.

“Yes?” Johnny replied, wondering if he’d offended the dragon somehow.

“Forgive me if I find that hard to believe,” the dragon said, “You humans only come here for gold or glory. I’ve never heard of a human coming to ‘help’ a dragon.”

“Well,” Johnny said, “You just did. You can refuse if you want.”

The dragon shifted its position to fully look Johnny in the face, sending a wave of coins tumbling aside with a loud chiming noise in the process. “What do you want from me in return for your help?”

“I don’t want anything,” Johnny said, ignoring Donghyuck’s pointed look at the gold pile.

The dragon tilted its head, as if assessing Johnny’s honesty. Johnny tried not to squirm under the gaze. He was probably being stupid not asking for gold or some the high quality weapons that the dragon had most likely stockpiled from past unfortunate adventurers, but for some reason Johnny found himself sympathizing with the dragon. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like constantly fielding people trying to kill you or take your things. Honestly, it kind of felt like Johnny was the one in the wrong in this whole situation, and offering some bandages for the dragon’s trouble was the least he could do.

“You truly mean that,” the dragon said, voice low but hiding the barest hint of something like wonder.

“I do,” Johnny said, trying to put as much conviction as he could into his voice.

The dragon snorted, then bared its teeth, and then let out a loud, staggered growl that nearly knocked Johnny off his feet. He only realized after a few seconds that it the dragon’s version of laughter. “You are different.”

“So I keep being told,” Johnny said.

“Alright human,” the dragon said, “Help me if you can.”

Johnny watched in confusion as the dragon at first appeared to be curling up into a ball, but he jerked back as the dragon’s form began to shrink smaller and smaller. Its bright red scales smoothed out and dulled into soft skin. Within minutes a young man with messy coppery red curls sat amongst the indentation in the gold pile that the dragon had left behind.

Johnny was shocked by just how young the other looked as a human. He looked to Donghyuck for help or any sign that the other might be able to explain what the hell just happened, but the younger seemed just as stunned if the slack jawed look on his face was any indication. Apparently shapeshifting wasn’t a well known dragon trait.

“Uh,” Johnny approached the man with Donghyuck, golden coins jingling under their feet as they moved closer. The dragon gave them with a crooked smile that, Johnny noticed, still bore slightly pointed teeth. He looked into the dragon, now human’s, slit-pupiled eyes, “What do you need help with?”

“I think clothes would be a start,” the dragon said. Donghyuck gave the dragon one last look, and left to go root around through the horde for any clothing as Johnny stared at the dragon with amazement.

“Can all dragons do that?” he asked, blurting out the first thing on his mind.

The man laughed. “Only the cool ones.”

Johnny found himself at a loss for what to say. What _does_ one ask a dragon? “Do you…go out like that?” He waved to the dragon’s human form.

“Sometimes,” the man said, “I can’t be bothered to hunt all the time, so I occasionally go into town to buy food. Also spices. Roasted meat tastes good, but it gets repetitive after so many years.”

“How old are you?”

“Hm…about a century? Give or take?” Johnny’s jaw dropped and the man laughed. “Trust me,” he said, “It’s fairly young for a dragon. Many dragons live around five or six hundred years. Some can even live a whole millennia.”

“That’s…” Johnny said, “I can’t imagine living for that long.”

“It does get lonely,” the man agreed.

Donghyuck returned at that moment with a pile of clothes in his arms. He looked between Johnny and the man suspiciously, looking like he really wanted to ask what they’d been talking about, but also not completely certain that he wanted to know. The younger ultimately decided not to ask, instead tossing the man the clothes. Johnny decided that he didn’t really want to know where the clothing had come from, especially when he saw the old blood stains smeared on the hem of the shirt.

The man started to dress, but winced halfway through tugging his shirt on. At that moment Johnny saw a sizable wound on the man’s side steadily leaking blood. He’d known the dragon had been injured, but it had somehow been less alarming when the dragon was in it’s larger form. Now though, seeing that wound on a familiar shape, Johnny felt a bit queasy looking at how deep the wound was.

“Donghyuck, can you help support him? I have to carry the last knight,” Johnny said. The younger reluctantly agreed, and helped the man to his feet. The former dragon proceeded to lean heavily against Donghyuck as they staggered out of the cave for the final time. The walk was long and Johnny could hear the man’s pained breaths with every step he took.

When they were once again outside the cave, Donghyuck immediately set about patching up the unconscious knight- who had very luckily only sustained minor injuries- before moving onto the dragon.

Donghyuck touched dragon warily as he bandaged the man’s side, as if the other might try to bite him if he let his guard down. At one point Donghyuck flinched away sharply when the man bared his teeth. The former dragon had laughed at the reaction, making Donghyuck glare and poke his side in retaliation. The man winced.

“So,” Johnny said, “Uh, sorry about all that I guess. With the whole… trying to kill you thing.”

The dragon sighed. “Nothing I’m not used to.” He looked over all the unconscious knights, mouth set into a thin line. “This might be a good indication that I should move on though. I knew word was spreading that I was up here, but I didn’t think I’d have to fight off so many people in such a short span of time.”

“How many times were you attacked here?”

“Including this time? Maybe ten times in the past couple months,” the man said bitterly, eyes flashing in the dying sunlight. “I just want to be left alone, but now I have to deal with one attack after the other. No one even bothers to try and talk to me anymore. I’d gladly hand over some of this gold if people just _asked_ first, you know?”

“Really?” Donghyuck asked skeptically, applying salve to one of the man’s bruises.

“Honestly, yeah,” the man said, “It’s not worth getting stabbed or killed over. I don’t need to buy much. Gold is supposed to be a status symbol for dragons, but it’s not like there’s anyone around here to really impress.”

“We’d be happy to take it off your hands if you don’t need it then,” Donghyuck offered dryly. Both Johnny and the dragon laughed at that.

“Sorry, kid,” the dragon said, “I’m probably going to have a friend pick it up from here so I can move locations.”

“A friend?” Johnny asked, “Like another dragon?”

“Sure,” the man answered noncommittally. He hissed as Donghyuck bandaged a cut over his ribs. Since he said nothing afterwards, Johnny doubted the dragon would talk much more about his horde or his friend.

“So where are you going to move from here?” Johnny asked.

“Oh, wherever,” the man said breezily, “Maybe somewhere warmer. Honestly, I might wander for a while. It’s been some time since I’ve gotten the opportunity to travel.”

A thought struck Johnny then. He opened his mouth.

“ _Don’t_ ,” Donghyuck said, pointing a needle he was about to use at Johnny threateningly. Johnny was certain that the younger had already anticipated what he was about to say.

“But Donghyuck,” Johnny began.

“You’re going to mess up the prophecy!” Donghyuck said, somehow still managing to angrily thread the needle.

“Oh, you have a prophecy?” the man said, perking up at that. He leered at Johnny, “Was I in it?”

“Yes,” Johnny said.

“No,” Donghyuck said at the same time. Donghyuck glared at Johnny, “ _No,_ he was _not_.”

“We don’t know that for sure! It’s vague!” Johnny argued. He turned back to the man. “Would you like to come with us?”

“No!” Donghyuck screeched, eyes wide.

The man just laughed. “You really want to have a dragon with you while you travel?”

“Why not?” Johnny said, “Sounds badass.”

The man shook his head, though his eyes were shining with amusement. “You’re a strange hero.”  
“Don’t I know it,” Donghyuck muttered. Though he was clearly still angry, he stitched the man’s side with careful hands. Clearly Donghyuck was well trained when it came to first aid. A skill, Johnny realized, was probably very important for anyone stuck traveling with a hero that might constantly be flinging themselves into harm’s way.

“And who are you to this hero, then?” the man asked Donghyuck.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes, “His long suffering guide.”

“Hey, I’m trying,” Johnny said. He looked back to the man, “So what do you say? Wanna come with us?”

The man tilted his head. “If the rest of your journey is as entertaining as you two appear to be, I feel like I’d be a fool to miss it.”

“Awesome!” Johnny said, raising his hand for a fist bump, but realizing halfway through that the man probably wouldn’t recognize the gesture. He coughed and lowered his hand. “So, what’s your name then?”

“I have many names,” the dragon said, “But for the sake of your weak human vocal cords,” Donghyuck made an offended noise at that, which the dragon ignored, “You can call me Jaehyun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johnny: So if you're a dragon, have you ever kidnapped royalty?  
> Jaehyun: That's a stereotype  
> Johnny: But have you?  
> Jaehyun:  
> Jaehyun: Once, but only because he was being a real dick.


	5. We're Gonna Need a Montage

“Raise your arm more!” Donghyuck called. Johnny barely resisted the urge to make a rude hand gesture in response when he looked over his shoulder to see the younger lounging on a chair thirty feet away with a drink in hand. Seeing Donghyuck so relaxed only made Johnny more aware of the uncomfortable way his sweat soaked shirt was sticking to his skin along with the ever present ache in his arms and upper body that felt like tendrils of fire were racing along his veins every time he lifted his wooden sword. All this was on top of the fact that he probably didn’t smell the best as deodorant had yet to be invented.

“He’s right,” Captain Jieqiong said, pulling Johnny’s attention away from his own sorry state, “You need to keep your blade up if there’s an overhead swing like so.” She proceeded to raise her own wooden sword and swung downward at Johnny in one fluid motion. Despite her telling him exactly what she was going to do, Johnny barely managed to bring his own sword up in time to clash against it. The force of the blow managed to push him back slightly before he dug in his heels in just in time to avoid falling over. Captain Jieqiong mercilessly drew her blade back once more. “Again!”

It had been three weeks since the incident in the cave. After Johnny and Donghyuck had managed to transport all the injured knights (and one secret dragon) back to town, the knights had decided to stay in the area to recover from their various injuries at the local inns, not that they’d had many options otherwise. Captain Jieqiong had been adamant about not leaving herself until her company was fully recovered despite her own wounds being less severe and healing well before the others. Donghyuck had told Johnny that it would take at least another month before all of the knights were fully healed considering the extent of their injuries.

This worked out in Johnny’s favor as the captain had apparently been impressed by Johnny and Donghyuck’s valiant efforts to get them all to safety (even if she didn’t know the full story), and she had volunteered to take charge of training Johnny in swordsmanship in Dehnor’s place. Johnny assumed the old knight was more than happy to pass off the responsibility.

She was as strict about Johnny’s training as he expected someone of her rank to be, but she was also mindful of his limitations considering he’d never swung a sword before in his life. Johnny supposed he should be happy that he found such a competent and understanding mentor to train him, but it was hard to feel grateful when every morning Johnny woke up feeling like his arms and legs had turned to overcooked pasta and were one solid hit away from falling off.

He’d been given a crash course on sword forms on the first day and then proceeded to spend the majority of his first three weeks just going through the motions and learning how to hold a sword in the first place. Today was the first time he’d tested the sword forms against another person, and his arms were already screaming under the strain despite the fact that they’d only been at it for an hour or so.

“Bend your knees!” Donghyuck yelled as Johnny was nearly knocked off his feet yet again.

“Turn your hips!” Jaehyun advised from his own chair, evidently having joined Donghyuck in making Johnny’s life difficult. Even without turning his head, Johnny was sure that the other was wearing a wide, shit-eating grin at his distress.

That was another thing Johnny and Donghyuck (mostly Donghyuck, admittedly) had needed to think around. After Jaehyun had agreed to join them, they had needed to figure out what to tell the knights about the dragon attack and how they’d managed such a clean getaway. Donghyuck had spun a detailed tale about how he and Johnny had hid after hearing the battle between the knights and the dragon, only going in to rescue the knights after seeing the dragon fly out of its cave in search of other attackers.

“Of course we don’t know where the dragon is now,” Donghyuck had said as Jaehyun had smiling innocently next to him, nodding along dutifully as Donghyuck described the circumstances.

Now, Jaehyun was playing the part of a local who had spotted Johnny and Donghyuck upon their return to town with the cart full of injured knights and offered his aid. A bit ironic, but the captain and all her knights seemed to buy it, especially since Jaehyun had a deceptively reassuring smile. Ever since then Jaehyun had glamoured away his more apparent draconic traits whenever he was around the captain for Johnny’s training, though he sometimes dropped the magic concealing his eyes and teeth when it was just the three of them in their inn room.

The dragon certainly wasn’t fond of the knights, even after his wound had healed. Any time one of the men or women in the company approached him, he would usually glare or speak in curt, one word answers until they left him alone. Johnny could hardly blame him for his behavior. He doubted he would want to be very friendly to someone who put a spear in his side (and Johnny was pretty sure he could guess which knight had done that if the way Jaehyun was constantly one second away from growling at one of the older knights was any indication. Johnny was pretty sure he’d seen thin wisps of smoke trailing out of Jaehyun’s mouth once when the knight had gone to speak with him, though Donghyuck had been quick to distract the knight with some trivial conversation and Jaehyun had regained control of himself soon afterwards).

At one point Donghyuck had asked Jaehyun what the other planned to do about his horde, a question that Johnny himself had been wondering but had worried that asking would be considered rude in dragon etiquette. Apparently Jaehyun had no qualms speaking about it, as he had pulled out a jade token that was hanging on a cord around his neck. He said that he’d used the stone to contact a friend of his to transport the horde somewhere else for safekeeping until Jaehyun could pick it up.

“I guess we should go visit your friend then,” Donghyuck had said with a faux innocent expression, “You might need that if you’ll be coming with us.”

Jaehyun had laughed. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind sharing with you guys. It’s not like I was using the gold for anything more interesting anyway.” Donghyuck had brightened at that, and even Johnny had felt relief knowing that their funds were going to get an immediate boost once Jaehyun was able to reclaim his gold.

“Where does your friend live?” Johnny had asked.

“Well,” Jaehyun said, “He moves around quite a bit, but the last I heard he was in Stonesfall.”

Donghyuck had grimaced at that. “That’s nearly a week’s travel from here!”

“It’s faster when I fly,” Jaehyun said apologetically.

“Could you fly us there?” Johnny asked.

“I might be able to carry the two of you, but I don’t think I’d be able to carry Cherry as well,” Jaehyun said apologetically.

“We aren’t leaving Cherry,” Donghyuck stated, shoulders tensing and eyes daring Johnny to argue.

Johnny held up his hands, “I wasn’t even considering it.” Donghyuck relaxed slightly. “We can work on my training, stock up here and then set off to find Jaehyun’s friend.” He turned to Jaehyun. “How long can your friend hold your gold for?”

“Probably indefinitely,” Jaehyun said with a shrug, “He’s got a lot of ways to store things.”

“That’s good,” Johnny said, “See? Nothing to worry about. We just gotta focus on learning how to use a sword.”

“ _You_ have to focus on learning how to use a sword,” Donghyuck said, “I’ll stand far away so you don’t accidentally take my head off.”

And that led to where Johnny was now, more accurately, struggling to swing a sword and remember to breathe at the same time. Captain Jieqiong probably had over a decade of training on Johnny, whose last experience swinging anything relatively sword-like was engaging in a mock lightsaber battle at a convention he’d gone to with his friends the prior summer. For that reason alone Johnny tried not to feel too bad about how she was completely wiping the floor with him despite being a head shorter and around forty pounds lighter.

“Counter!” she called. Johnny nearly dropped his sword trying to get it into position in time. He barely managed to block a swing aimed at his head.

“Oof!” Johnny grunted as Captain Jieqiong took advantage of his sword being trapped in the overhead block to surprise him with a kick in the stomach. He went sprawling on the ground, dropping his sword in the process with the wind fully knocked out of him.

“Always anticipate other tactics!” she lectured, tapping her wooden sword on the ground. “Be mindful of all of your opponent’s moves!”

“I don’t think we covered that yet,” Johnny muttered dazedly as he stared up at a cloud while trying to get his breath back. It kind of looked like an Xbox controller if he squinted, he thought.

“Back on your feet! You’d be dead three times over if this was a real battle!”

Johnny grabbed for his sword and struggled back to his initial stance, planting his feet shoulders width apart the way that the captain had all but drilled into his head. She nodded once in approval but Johnny barely had a second to register that, let alone feel take any pride in it, before she was swinging at him again.

“Block!” she yelled. The impact of her sword against his rattled Johnny’s whole arm. She swung again. “Parry! No, turn your blade more or else I’ll be able to thrust and take your eye out! Use the guard! Again!”

And so it went for the next four hours with only a half hour break for lunch and occasional five minute breaks for water or using the bathroom (whenever he got back to his world Johnny was going to write a goddamn song about the wonders of indoor plumbing, which he missed so much that he honest to god got a little teary eyed just thinking about it). All the while, Donghyuck and Jaehyun would call out unhelpful comments critiquing his stance, attacks and, occasionally, appearance. The latter was a bit uncalled for in Johnny’s opinion, especially when Donghyuck compared his fighting to a ‘flailing wooden homunculus’.

Finally, mercifully, dinner hour rolled around and Captain Jieqiong gave Johnny one final round of advice as well as plans for the next day’s training before she split off to check on her knights. Jaehyun, Donghyuck and Johnny all trudged back to their tiny inn room, Johnny barely being able to pick up his feet enough to make it there.

The room they were renting had two beds, which had been fine when it was just Johnny and Donghyuck, but now posed an issue with Jaehyun being present. Johnny was getting sick of waking up with either Jaehyun’s elbow in his neck or finding that Donghyuck had stolen all the blankets over the course of the night leaving Johnny to freeze.

Despite the cramped quarters, the hard training, and the exceedingly bland food (honestly, were spices just not invented yet?), Johnny actually found himself starting to enjoy the routine of it all. Occasionally he felt a bit guilty wondering if he should somehow be doing something more to try and return home. He wasn’t sure if time passed differently with him being in another world as most fantasy novels he read claimed it did, or if he’d actually been gone for almost a month in real time. His mother was probably worried sick if that was the case.

“We need to make sure you survive,” Donghyuck said when Johnny had brought it up to him over breakfast one morning, “You didn’t really expect to become a swords master in a month, did you?”

“Well, no.”

“It all takes time.” Donghyuck seemed to have some pity on him so he added, “Look I know you want to get home, I can’t imagine what it’s like being stuck in another world like this, but if you really want to get back then you have to make sure you survive long enough to find a way back first. It’d be stupid to just go charging off with no plan in hopes that _maybe_ you’ll stumble onto something or someone that could help you.”

“I know.” Johnny said. Apparently he still looked down by the time Jaehyun had woken up for his own breakfast because the dragon had offered him some of his eggs. It didn’t necessarily erase the homesickness, but he did feel a little better from the sentiment.

And so Johnny had started trying even harder at his daily lessons. Perhaps he didn’t actually learn any faster, but it kept his body and, more importantly, his mind occupied so he wouldn’t dwell too long on how much he missed his home and family. And maybe once he started to find his footing with sword fighting and all this heroic stuff, the road home might be shorter after all.

‘Maybe I _can_ do this,’ Johnny thought, ‘Maybe I can finish this prophecy and the reward will be getting to go home.’ That’s how it always worked in the movies, right?

Johnny imagined that if this had actually been a film then there would have been a dramatic montage with swelling inspirational music in the background as his sword forms gradually improved and he started getting stronger and more impressive looking. In reality though, it was more like a daily grind of getting his ass handed to him over and over. He probably spent more time landing on his back then doing actual sword play, but at least by the end of the month he could last a full thirty seconds against Captain Jieqiong before she inevitably trounced him.

“You’re improving,” Captain Jieqiong said five weeks into their routine.

“Really?” Johnny had asked from where he was sprawled out on the ground. He was starting to become so familiar with the position that he was pretty sure there was an imprint in the earth in the shape of his body.

“Indeed,” she said, “Why, I would say you’re fighting at least at the level of most twelve year old squires.”

Johnny sighed before getting back to his feet and picking up the wooden sword once again.

* * *

Of course as soon as he started getting used to the daily routine of training and going about daily errands with Donghyuck and Jaehyun, the last of the knights in Captain Jieqiong’s company recovered enough to travel and she announced that they would be setting back out for the capital city of Neau the next day. Johnny couldn’t help the way his face fell slightly upon hearing the news. He didn’t feel anywhere near prepared enough to defend himself, only having the most basic sword forms under his belt, and even then it wasn’t like he’d ever been in actual combat against a monster that probably wouldn’t even be wielding a sword.

He, Donghyuck and Jaehyun all walked with the knights to the edge of town to see them off, dread growing in Johnny’s stomach with every step. He knew it was ridiculous, but he felt as if a monster might attack as soon as the knights were out of view.

When they arrived, all the knights were already mounted on their horses with a full cart of supplies in tow behind one of them. Captain Jieqiong was speaking quietly with another knight when Johnny approached her. She waved the other knight off to finish relaying their travel plan to the others.

“Captain Jieqiong,” Johnny said, wondering if he should bow or salute at this point. She didn’t say anything when he didn’t do either, so he assumed he was fine. “Uh, I just wanted to say thank you for all the sword training. I would’ve been completely lost without you.”

“It was the least I could do,” she said, “You aided not only me, but my company. I will always be indebted to you and your companions for your generosity.”

“Still. Thank you,” Johnny said, “I will keep practicing as you advised.”

The captain noticed Johnny’s gloomy countenance despite his best efforts. “I know you do not feel ready. I know you are scared,” she said, managing to sound like she was reading his thoughts directly out of his brain, “But I will let you in on a secret.” She lowered her voice, “Everyone is at first.”

“I’m not sure if that makes me feel better,” Johnny said, smiling wryly.

She smiled back. “Many people think heroes are born special. That for heroes it was always their destiny to be above common folk. Gods know I’ve met more than enough heroes that think the same, unfortunately.

But in all of my personal experience, I have found that heroes are not born, they are made. You are not a hero for being born to the right parents or possessing the largest sword or buying the most expensive prophecy. You become a hero by standing by your values and defending those in need of aid. You, Johnny, I think have the potential to be one, especially if your actions regarding the dragon are anything to go by.” She gave him a wink and glanced meaningfully in Jaehyun’s direction.

Johnny froze, mouth gaping. It was only when she leaned back in her saddle and started waving her knights on that he snapped out of it and managed to say, “Wait, did you just-?” But Captain Jieqiong had already trotting away with a backwards wave.

“Good luck, you three!” she called, “Swing by the guard to say hello if you’re ever in the capital!”

* * *

Donghyuck had insisted that they remain in town a week longer following the knights’ departure to stock up on rations and also make sure they knew exactly how to get to Jaehyun’s friend’s dwelling in Stonesfall, along with any alternate routes to their destination lest the main routes be blocked in some way. He’d listened to enough of his parents’ and grandparents’ horror stories about how dangerous getting lost could be, so Donghyuck was adamant that they avoid such a fate as much as they possibly could. Sure, if destiny had it out for them they could _still_ get lost, but Donghyuck was at least going to put up a fight.

When the day came to finally set out they’d all woken up early (with some grumbling from Jaehyun who’d protested that rising before the birds did was an abomination in the eyes of dragon kind) and grabbed a quick breakfast from downstairs before double checking Cherry’s saddle bags and heading out. Though in the grand scheme of things they hadn’t been in town for very long, it was still sad to watch the town fade into nothing more than a small speck in the distance. Donghyuck knew that he would personally miss the way that the innkeeper’s wife would prepare lamb with a broth whose ingredients she claimed had been a family secret passed on for generations.

Luckily for them, the weather wasn’t too bad that morning. A bit on the colder side, but Donghyuck had had the foresight to layer up and tell the others to do the same. Johnny had done so, but Jaehyun had said that his draconic side would protect him from something as insignificant as a slight chill. Unfortunately, Jaehyun appeared to have forgotten that his current human form did not have the same temperature regulating capabilities as his thick dragon hide. He was now shivering slightly in the morning air and trying very hard to pretend that he wasn’t.

After twenty minutes of watching Jaehyun definitely not be cold, Donghyuck rolled his eyes and pulled out a folded up shawl from one of the packs on Cherry’s side. He tossed it to Jaehyun. “Wrap yourself.”

“I d-don’t need it,” Jaehyun stuttered as he caught the warm wool. “I just need t-to keep m-moving!”

“Put it on before you start sniffling,” Donghyuck said, “I can’t deal with that for the next week.” Jaehyun made a few more weak protests that Donghyuck tuned out but ultimately slipped the shawl over his head. He stopped shivering after a few moments, but Donghyuck graciously decided to keep the ‘I told you so’ to himself.

“You’re secretly pretty nice, aren’t you?” Johnny asked lowly, meeting Donghyuck’s eyes from where he was walking on the other side of Cherry.

Donghyuck sniffed. “I am certainly _not_ nice. I just didn’t want to listen to him whining for the rest of our trip. Never accuse me of kindness again, or I’ll leave you and your prophecy on the side of the road for the raccoons to have.”

Johnny laughed. “You put up a front, but I know it’s because you care so much.”

“I don’t!”

“You do,” Johnny said, “Why else would you put up with me when I can’t even swing a sword, or tolerate Jaehyun when half the country apparently thinks dragons are nothing more than monsters?”

“It’s just my job,” Donghyuck groused.

Johnny hummed. “Alright. We can go with that for now, but someday I’ll get you to admit that you’re here because you actually like us.”

“Johnny, I can guarantee that I will _never_ say those words out loud.”

“But you’ll think them?”

“No!”

“You’re lying. Your ears are turning red.”

“They do that when I’m angry!”

Johnny laughed. “Fine.” He let the matter drop as Donghyuck muttered bitterly to himself.

“So,” Johnny said after a good thirty more minutes of walking had passed and the appeal of looking at the scenery in silence had apparently worn off, “Do you guys have like… road trip games here?”

“What are road trip games?” Jaehyun asked, coming up to Donghyuck’s side. It was a testament to how much they had bonded during Johnny’s training sessions that Donghyuck didn’t even flinch at the dragon’s presence anymore. Donghyuck grudgingly admitted that the dragon had some pretty good quips to offer occasionally.

“You know,” Johnny said, “Like… I Spy?”

“What?” Donghyuck asked.

“I can start!” Johnny said. “So I say, ‘I spy with my little eye, something green’ and then the two of you have to figure out what I’m looking at.”

“Sounds dumb,” Donghyuck said.

Johnny pouted. “What, do you have something better to do?”

Jaehyun laughed. “I’ll play. Something green, huh? Is it that tree?” He pointed to a large, willowy tree in the distance.

“Nope! Try again!”

“Is it that tree?” Jaehyun pointed to another on the other side of the road. Donghyuck felt a headache building behind his temples as he imagined this conversation continuing for the next hour or more.

“Are you just going guess every single tree?” Donghyuck snapped.

“I’ll give you a hint,” Johnny said, “It’s not a tree.”

Jaehyun squinted at the scenery. “The grass?”

“Nope!”

“The flowers over there?”

“Nope!”

“STOP!” Donghyuck yelled. “Pick another game or shut up!” Both Johnny and Jaehyun blinked at him.

“It’s Donghyuck’s cloak.”

“Bingo!”

Donghyuck covered his face with his hands and groaned. Six days and seven hours left to go.

* * *

The first night they camped out in the woods, Donghyuck realized just how easy he’d had it for the past month now that he had no bed, no tub and not even a roof. He’d been trained well in the techniques of surviving the outdoors, but that didn’t mean he had to enjoy it. Clearly Johnny felt the same, as Donghyuck saw the other wince as he laid down on their makeshift beds crafted from leaves and grass. The only one who looked remotely comfortable was Jaehyun, who had assembled his own sleeping pile without any verbal complaint.

Donghyuck paused, considering if he should approach the dragon, before doing so. He still couldn’t believe the other had agreed so readily to join their quest. When Jaehyun had first joined, Donghyuck had waited in tense anticipation for the moment when the dragon would betray them and either eat them both or burn them alive. When that moment never came after over a month in Jaehyun’s company, Donghyuck had accepted that the dragon simply stayed because he wanted to with no hidden motives forthcoming. Sure, Jaehyun could be playing a much longer game that Donghyuck couldn’t anticipate, but given the dragon’s laid back disposition, Donghyuck was inclined to take the dragon at face value. He never could’ve imagined traveling with such a creature before this quest but now… well, Donghyuck wasn’t even sure that “monsters” was the right term to use to refer to dragons, or at least Jaehyun.

“Hey,” Donghyuck said, flopping down on his grass bed next to where Jaehyun was laying a blanket over his own grass pile.

“Hey,” Jaehyun said, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

“Can you at least tell us something about this friend of yours that we’re going to see?” Donghyuck asked, “Are they…” He trailed off before he could say _‘like you’_ , but Jaehyun read between the lines anyway.

“They aren’t a dragon, if that’s what you’re asking,” Jaehyun said. He frowned, seemingly considering what to say next. Donghyuck wondered if it was just because Jaehyun didn’t _want_ to say more, of if he physically couldn’t. Some magical beings were _very_ protective of their privacy, to the point that they would hex anyone they met so that the other person wouldn’t be able to mention their name.

“So what are they then, if I may ask,” Donghyuck said.

“Well, he’s human,” Jaehyun said, “He’s magical though.”

“Oh,” Donghyuck blinked, a bit surprised, “Is he a mage?”

Most mages he’d heard about were trained at the capital and went on to work for the nobility or wealthy guilds once they graduated. They were often hired to either craft magical artifacts, weapons, or spells to use for accompanying adventuring groups. From the stories Donghyuck had heard in town, mages were usually the ones who went out to hunt down creatures like dragons, so he was shocked to hear Jaehyun referring to one as his friend.

“Oh no, of course not,” Jaehyun said, wrinkling his nose, “Mages are the worst. Obnoxious spells, arrogant demeanor, and they don’t even have the decency to taste good.”

“They don’t?” Johnny asked from Jaehyun’s other side. Evidently he’d overheard their conversation, not that Donghyuck had expected anything less given how close they were all sleeping next to each other to preserve body heat.

“No,” Jaehyun said, “Magic tends to spoil any flavor. It tastes like… Sulfur and dirt.”

“Gross.”

“Right?”

Donghyuck cut in before the conversation could get too off topic, “So if he’s not a trained mage but knows magic…”

Most children who showed any signs of magical ability were shipped off to the capital schools for education as soon as possible, as it was decreed by the Crown that all magical potential should be trained early to prevent any disasters should a person’s magic go out of control. Practicing magic outside of an authorized environment or without an official royal license was considered a serious offense and could even lead to execution.

Many in the kingdom had protested that this order was unfair as many families out in rural communities couldn’t afford to send their children to the capital, both because of the required educational expenses and the loss of help around the home, but the Crown turned a deaf ear to these complaints. Back in Donghyuck’s hometown, he’d known about one family in such a situation who had trained their child who’d displayed very small amounts of magic- she was only able to conjure small bursts of wind or summon enough fire to light a candle- to hide in the barn whenever the royal guard had come to their town. Often if any of the townspeople heard news of or spotted the guard approaching would rush to the family’s house to warn them. It was a bit of an open town secret.

“He’s in hiding,” Jaehyun said, confirming Donghyuck’s thoughts, “I don’t know too much about his past, but he’s working as hedge witch now.”

“A hedge witch,” Donghyuck said, eyes widening.

“What’s a hedge witch?” Johnny asked.

Donghyuck bit his lip. Hedge witches were solitary magic practitioners who usually hid themselves in the woods or other secluded areas to avoid being found by the royal guard. Rumors about them ranged far and wide, from them being evil magicians that demanded gruesome payments (often in the form of blood or firstborn), to simple medicine makers who drew power from the surrounding natural environment. Though the stories Donghyuck had heard in the past seemed to lean toward the former idea, after meeting and getting to know Jaehyun, Donghyuck was less certain that all the stories about witches that he had heard growing up were legitimate if the ones about dragons were apparently so far off.

“They’re magic users who typically live alone,” Donghyuck began slowly, looking at Jaehyun for confirmation. The dragon didn’t give any sign of disagreement, so he went on, “They tend to focus on medicinal cures and household magic.”

Jaehyun nodded. “Yeah. He’s pretty good at making potions too. Don’t worry, he’s really nice.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” Johnny said, “We haven’t met any magic users yet.”

Donghyuck hummed noncommittally. He hoped that this mystery witch was as harmless as Jaehyun promised. He didn’t want to even consider the alternative.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johnny: Can the witch brew me a potion to make me cooler?  
> Jaehyun: Sorry, he's not a miracle worker.


	6. Witch Hunt

Three days into their journey to Stonesfall, Donghyuck was just about ready to assume the role of evil villain to Johnny’s hero and murder both him and Jaehyun and leave their bodies in a ditch. He reasoned that he would be justified in his actions as Johnny never seemed to run out of inane, cyclical songs whose only purpose appeared to be to drive anyone within hearing range out of their minds. To make matters worse, apparently dragons were immune to this auditory assault as Jaehyun more often than not wound end up joining in on the songs after two or three verses, making Donghyuck’s suffering all the more potent.

At this point, he was sick of hearing about ‘bottles of beer on the wall’ or ‘wheels on the bus’ (whatever the hell a bus was) or ‘songs that never end’. Sure, Donghyuck had waited for twenty years of his life in anticipation of going on some epic quest, but his parents would probably agree that some things are just impossible to endure.

As if that wasn’t enough, whenever Donghyuck wasn’t busy with fantasizing about sewing Johnny and Jaehyun’s mouth shut with surgical thread, he was resisting the urge to slam his head against the nearest tree from how _boring_ the journey was. The initial appeal of fresh air and a change of scenery had worn off after the first day, especially after Donghyuck had woken up early in the morning with his blanket and clothes soaked through with the freezing morning dew. It had taken him hours to stop shivering and warm up with the sun only occasionally deigning to peek itself through the clouds.

Donghyuck knew they still had at least four days of travel before reaching their destination- and that was only if the weather continued to be favorable enough to travel. Donghyuck’s feet ached at the mere thought of how much more ground they needed to cover. It appeared that Johnny and Jaehyun were becoming similarly worn out, despite Johnny’s best efforts to keep their spirits up. Donghyuck had noticed the hero’s bright songs were occasionally flagging and interspersed with hours of contemplative silence only occasionally broken up by Johnny muttering that the last time he’d done something this physically demanding was the ‘fitnessgram pacer test”, not that Donghyuck understood any of those words.

Jaehyun especially was struggling with the walk, wincing with every other step (though the dragon tried to hide it). Donghyuck doubted that Jaehyun had walked further than a few hundred yards at a time in his human form. Donghyuck could hardly blame him. If he had the option of flying everywhere as a huge dragon as opposed to slowly trudging across the ground, he definitely would have done so. That said, Jaehyun had developed a number of blisters and cuts on his feet courtesy of the rocky road. Donghyuck winced every evening when he had to apply salve to the nasty looking injuries.

Day four of their trip was particularly difficult. Though Johnny tried to stay upbeat, Donghyuck was pretty sure the man had slept as poorly as the rest of them the night prior when the temperature had dropped painfully low. Despite their efforts to maintain a campfire, they still woke up with their fire burned down to ash and a deep chill settling into their bones. Johnny kept sniffling, which was worrying as the last thing any of them needed was to fall ill this far from any settlement.

“So what kind of magic can hedge witches do versus mages?” Johnny had asked that day, clearly desperate for any kind of conversation that could distract himself from how miserable he was.

“Well,” Donghyuck said, taking pity on Johnny’s condition as the other wrapped his traveling cloak tighter around his shoulders, “Like I said before, hedge witches tend to focus on household magic. Growing plants, cooking, cleaning, making medicine, purifying spaces and all that.”

“They’re really in tune with environment,” Jaehyun added, “Most of them draw their power from the earth around them, which is why they prefer living in secluded forests or more isolated natural areas for the most part.”

“A lot of people visit them for medical treatments,” Donghyuck said. He bit his lip wondering if he should continue with the other rumors he heard about hedge witches. After a few seconds of mental deliberation he decided to continue as Johnny deserved to know every bit of information out there to make his own judgment call.

“There are a lot of rumors about them,” Donghyuck started cautiously, gaze darting toward Jaehyun.

The dragon let out a derisive snort, but it thankfully didn’t appear to be aimed at Donghyuck. “Most of the stories people tell are bullshit,” Jaehyun said bluntly, “There’s no animal or human sacrifice, they have the highest respect for living things. I think the most dangerous thing my friend's ever done has been trying to get honey from a beehive without any gloves or training.”

“I wasn’t even thinking about that kind of thing,” Johnny said, eyebrows shooting up. “If it’s not true, then how’d that rumor even start?”

“The damn mages,” Jaehyun said, spitting out the word ‘mages’ like a curse, “And that’s the biggest difference between the two groups. Mages think they’re above everyone else for being able to use alchemy and order around elemental forces.”

“Isn’t nature an elemental force?” Johnny asked. “To me it sounds like both mages and hedge witches have some form of control over natural elements.”

Jaehyun’s brow furrowed as he thought. “Hedge witch magic is more of a constant conversation with nature. They give and take while trying not to disrupt the ecosystem around them too much. Mages are more… payment based. I think the phrase they like to repeat a lot is ‘equivalent exchange’.”

“I’ve heard of that before,” Donghyuck said. Though non-magical children weren’t taught much about the mages of Neau, there were a few basic rules of alchemy thatnearly everyone knew about, even if they couldn’t effectively utilize them. “You have to have the proper components to work a spell or it could backfire.”

“Right,” Jaehyun said, “Hedge witches and nature are more friendly, I think. There are times when you let a friend borrow something or give them gifts without expecting anything in return, right?”

“Of course,” Johnny said.

“Then mages are more like traders. You have to pay the price exactly, and in good time too, or else there could be very serious consequences,” Jaehyun said.

Johnny made a face, “Ugh. I think I’d rather be a hedge witch. It sounds like being a mage would be stressful. Why would anyone practice something so dangerous?”

“Hedge witch magic is smaller magic,” Donghyuck said, “Remember? Household. Mages can level mountains, change the tides, summon rain… pretty much whatever they want, as long as they can afford the price.”

“People are attracted to power,” Jaehyun said tonelessly.

“It’s why mages are so highly regarded in Czennia,” Donghyuck explained, “The work they do is very dangerous, so they’re generously compensated in both employment and wages.”

“And then they go hunt down innocent dragons,” Jaehyun muttered. Donghyuck bit his lip, and shifted Cherry’s reins to his other hand in discomfort as an awkward silence fell over the group.

Though Donghyuck had never been one of the people who held mages in the near worshipful admiration that most of the citizens near the capital did, he’d always thought of them as a reliable force. Perhaps their methods were a bit harsh, and sure sometimes they were known to have a bit of an issue with corruption, but they kept everyone safe from monsters! Someone had to do the job, right?

At least, that’s what he’d once believed. Now, hearing Jaehyun’s low opinion of the mages, Donghyuck was starting to have some doubts about the mages’ methods and intentions.

“So then,” Johnny said, deliberately attempting to break up the tension enveloping his traveling companions, “Does someone become a hedge witch versus a mage through birth or by training to become one?”

“A little of both,” Jaehyun said, “My friend actually trained at one of the mage academies in Neau a while ago before dropping out to start studying natural magic.”

Donghyuck blinked at that. “He did? You can actually drop out?”

“Well, not exactly,” Jaehyun said, “I guess it would be more accurate to say he ran away. He told me that the academy wasn’t helping him understand his magic properly, and he left in the middle of the night to try and figure out another method.”

“And they just let him go?”

“Gods no. They tried to hunt him down for a few years or so. I think he was a pretty promising student so they wanted him brought back alive at first, but they gave up on getting him to return after so long. He’s seen as a liability by the academy now since he’s learned so many of their techniques and secrets. I think he’s classified as ‘kill on sight’ by the royal guard.”

“Gods,” Donghyuck said.

“Yeah, technically he’s on the run,” Jaehyun said, “Which is why he moves around so much. I don’t think anyone’s actively looking for him, but he has to stay hidden just in case.”

Donghyuck was silent for a few minutes digesting that new information. Was it really safe for them to try and approach Jaehyun’s friend if doing so could put them all in danger from the royal guard? He hadn’t heard any news about the royal guard staying in or near Stonesfall, but it had been four days since he’d been able to get any news. Donghyuck definitely wasn’t eager to do anything to get on the Crown or mage academy’s bad side.

Evidently Johnny was having similar thoughts because he asked, “Is it okay for us to try and find your friend then? Would that put him in danger?”

Jaehyun smiled at the hero’s concern, “Don’t worry, he’s pretty good at hiding himself, and I sent him a message to let him know we’re coming so he should be prepared for anything that might happen.”

Johnny still looked uncertain, but nodded at Jaehyun’s words. “If you say so, bro.”

“I do, bro,” Jaehyun said, looking pleased with himself for his use of weird ‘American’ slang that he’d seemed to develop a fondness for over the course of their travels.

Donghyuck felt a familiar headache building behind his eyes.

* * *

When they finally reached Stonesfall, Johnny nearly collapsed with relief. The town itself was small and fairly unremarkable, not that Johnny really had a good chance to look at it given how tired they all were upon arriving. They had made it in late enough in the day that the trio had just made a beeline for the nearest inn before agreeing to look for Jaehyun’s friend in the morning. Johnny had actually cried when he laid eyes on the lumpy mattresses in their room and the splintered tub in the bathroom. Donghyuck and Jaehyun had at least had the grace not to mention it, though Donghyuck did give Johnny a judgmental look. Johnny couldn’t find it in himself to care at that moment because he was too busy singing all the praises of hot water.

Later that night, after scrubbing a week’s worth of road dust off his skin and changing into clean clothes, Johnny felt like a new man. He was practically vibrating with contentment that not even Donghyuck insisting they spend time planning out their course of action for the next day could put a damper on. Johnny half listened as he practically inhaled a plate of food that Donghyuck had ordered earlier. God, he really had it bad if he was starting to miss unseasoned meat and boiled potatoes.

“So,” Donghyuck said from where he was sitting crosslegged on the bed across from Johnny, “We need to talk about where the hedge witch might be.”

Jaehyun nodded from his spot next to Johnny on the bed. He’d finished his meal while Johnny was washing up and was now gnawing at the bones to get at the marrow. He set the chicken bones back down on the plate when Donghyuck stared at him expectantly. “Right. Well, he’s always been reclusive, even for a hedge witch, which I don’t blame him for given his circumstances. Early on, when he’d just run away from the academy, he had a bad experience at a town he was staying in.”

Donghyuck frowned, “Since he was unlicensed magic user, I can imagine.”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said, “He settled at first in a remote village a good distance from Neau and initially tried to keep a low profile by staying home and only selling salves to make a living, but one day an older woman had approached him saying that her husband was sick with something that was keeping him bedridden. My friend… he’s a bit of a pushover. He examined the man and ended up brewing her a potion for a cure. Even though he asked the woman and her husband to keep quiet about what he’d done, word spread across town pretty fast.”

“Oh no,” Johnny said. Even he could see where this was going.

“People kept coming to him for potions. Some for serious reasons, some for less significant ones. Eventually the news spread so far that the royal guard caught wind of it decided to head to that town to check it out. My friend only managed to get out of his house in time because one of the villagers warned him. When the guards couldn’t find him, his place was burned to the ground with some of his possessions still inside. He’s been a bit paranoid ever since.”

“Understandable,” Johnny said. Despite how hungry he’d been moments before, he felt his appetite abandon him after hearing the story. He couldn’t imagine how terrifying it must be to feel constantly hunted and threatened just for trying to help people. He felt bad for this hedge witch, who clearly had done nothing to deserve the animosity directed at him.

“If I had to guess where he was now,” Jaehyun continued, “He would likely be in the forest outside the town. Close to nature, and pretty isolated. He probably doesn't even need to come into town much, since he’s always grown his own food and been pretty self sufficient.”

“Oh, well that narrows it down,” Donghyuck said dryly, “There’s miles of forest!”

Johnny felt similarly at a loss thinking about how expansive the territory they might need to cover was. They’d spotted the forest near Stonesfall even from a distance. He’d privately hoped upon seeing it that they wouldn’t have to go in, but Johnny guessed it wouldn’t be a proper fantasy quest without a few creepy forests.

Jaehyun frowned. “Yeah. I can try to ask him tomorrow morning to see if I can get some more specific directions but…” He trailed off.

“But?” Johnny prompted.

“He’s a bit… dumb at times,” Jaehyun said slowly.

“Is he bad with directions?” Johnny asked in confusion.

“No, it’s just, uh,” Jaehyun looked a bit sheepish on his friend’s behalf, “He put a spell on his home so that no one can tell other people where he lives. It’s a precaution he put in place after what happened back then.”

“That seems pretty smart to me,” Johnny said.

“It would be,” Jaehyun allows, “If he hadn’t accidentally included himself in that spell.”

There was a very pregnant pause.

“Are you telling me he hexed himself out of giving his location?” Donghyuck said.

“Not entirely!” Jaehyun said, “He was able to say he was close to Stonesfall! And I’m sure if we can word the questions vaguely enough he’ll be able to tell us where he is.”

Donghyuck groaned and flopped backward on the bed. Johnny felt a sympathetic urge to do the same, but refrained doing so would end up knocking him into Jaehyun.

“So,” Johnny said, “Do you know what questions to ask?”

“I think that the three of us together should be able to come up with something!” Jaehyun said optimistically. Johnny didn’t have the heart to say that he was probably vastly overestimating their collective intelligence and instead resigned himself to try and think of a subtle way to ask how to find someone without a GPS.

* * *

The next morning Jaehyun slipped the jade token off from around his neck and held it aloft in a beam of sunlight. It shone a translucent green, which Donghyuck couldn’t help but admire. In a way, it reminded Donghyuck of the crystal that he wore around his neck. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but the crystal felt like it grew warmer in response to the newly revealed jade. They all piled onto one bed around Jaehyun to get a closer look.

“Okay,” Donghyuck said, fingers absentmindedly plucking at the cord around his neck that the crystal hung from, “What kinds of questions can we ask?”

“It’s mostly yes or no,” Jaehyun said, “I’m able to send my own messages to my friend alright, but the response signal is pretty weak. Also he can’t say too much about his location, like I said earlier.”

“So if we were to ask something like ‘are you in the forest?’”

The jade glowed brightly once before dimming back to its usual luster.

“Oh, sweet!” Johnny said, eyes brightening. “What does that mean?”

“It’s a ‘yes’,” Jaehyun said.

“What does a ‘no’ look like?”

The jade token dimmed to a dull green in response.

“At least we have that much,” Donghyuck said.

Johnny nodded. “Okay, so he’s in the forest. Is he close to town?” The jade didn’t react.

“Must be too specific,” Jaehyun said.

Donghyuck frowned, “Can you see the sun?” The token brightened.

“What do you mean?” Johnny asked.

“I was thinking that the forest gets darker the denser it is. If he can see the sun, he’s probably in a clearer part of the forest,” Donghyuck explained.

“Good thinking,” Jaehyun said. Donghyuck tried not to look too pleased. “And it makes sense. He grows a lot of plants. They probably need a lot of sunlight.”

“Water too,” Johnny added, “Is there a river or a pond out in the forest?” The token glowed again.

Donghyuck perked up. “That’d probably be easier to ask about rather than searching the whole woods for this guy.” The others nodded.

“Let’s go downstairs and ask if anyone might know where a river is,” Johnny said. Jaehyun fastened the jade token back around his neck, and all of them started preparing their bags for travel.

Twenty minutes later they’d gotten directions from the inn’s owner toward a river that ran through the forest and ended at a lake thirty miles away. Donghyuck held back a groan realizing that the hedge witch could live literally anywhere along such a river.

Despite the daunting task ahead of them, the trio set out for the forest. Donghyuck took some small comfort in the fact that Cherry didn’t seem hesitant to press on once they reached the edge of the woods. That was already an improvement from their previous journey to Jaehyun’s cliffs. Speaking of which, it appeared that the horse had gotten used to Jaehyun as well. This was probably due to the fact that Jaehyun had dedicated himself to getting on Cherry’s good side by spending nearly all his time during Johnny’s training in the previous town trying to bond with the horse and feeding Cherry her favorite treats.

Now Jaehyun was able to walk beside Cherry comfortably without worrying that the horse might try and nip at him. Secretly Donghyuck was a little jealous as Cherry was supposed to be _his_ partner, but he could at least take a small amount of pleasure in that fact that Cherry was clearly still wary of Johnny. She gave him a distrustful look every time the tall man drew near, and he gave her an equally hesitant glance in response. Cherry no longer tried to bite him, but she bumped into Johnny while walking with a little more force than was strictly necessary.

They found the river about an hour after they took a break for lunch. It was fairly thin and shallow at this point with the water moving at a sluggish pace. Donghyuck could peer through the clear water to see the muddy bottom less than a foot below the surface. It could hardly even be called a creek, and Donghyuck could hop across it with little effort if he wanted to. However, as he stared downstream he realized that the river banks were widening ever so slightly. He was sure it would be a considerable distance across and quite a few more feet in depth by the time it ran into the reported lake thirty miles away.

“Follow the river?” Johnny asked, pointing downstream.

“Guess so,” Donghyuck replied. He turned to Jaehyun, “Anything in particular we should be looking for to find your friend?”

Jaehyun shrugged. “Sorry, his place changes appearances every time he moves. It’s another precaution.”

“Good for him, less good for us,” Donghyuck sighed.

They set off down the river, Donghyuck scanning his gaze left to right on the lookout for anything that might resemble a hedge witch’s dwelling. He wasn’t quite sure what a witch’s house would look like though. Would it be a deceptively innocent cottage? A run down shack? A modified cave? Despite all the tales of witches that parents used to scare children into behaving, not many stories dwelt too long on the common choices of witch architecture.

“Maybe it’s made of candy,” Johnny said when Donghyuck expressed his frustration at not knowing what to look for.

“What?” Donghyuck said. Even Jaehyun raised an eyebrow at the other’s suggestion.

“You know, witches live in houses made of candy to lure children in,” Johnny said, “Do you guys have those kinds of stories here?”

“No,” Donghyuck said, “That sounds impractical.”

“Wouldn’t a house made of candy rot pretty fast?” Jaehyun wondered.

“Or attract bugs and animals,” Donghyuck said.

“But it’s magical!” Johnny said, “So it doesn’t decompose or anything!”

“Seems like a waste of magic,” Donghyuck said.

“I mean,” Jaehyun said, “I can kind of see the appeal. You can snack whenever or wherever you want!”

“What if you eat something you end up needing though? Like a pillow or whatever.” Donghyuck countered before realizing how stupid the argument was.

“That’s true.”

“You could just magic up new pillows,” Johnny said.

“But alchemy requires an equivalent exchange,” Jaehyun said. “You’d already have to have the components to make a pillow.”

“Summoning then?”

Donghyuck scoffed, “What, you’re gonna make a blood sacrifice to get another pillow?” Johnny laughed.

“You’re right, that might be a bit much.”

They continued walking and debating the logistics of an edible house for another hour or so before the conversation trailed off. Donghyuck started to worry as the sky began tinting orange and pink in the fading sunlight. They still had no sign of a witch’s house, candy coated or otherwise, and he was definitely not looking forward to spending a night in the woods.

“This isn’t good,” Donghyuck said, as the sky faded into a light purple that darkened steadily. Sundown had come even quicker than he’d expected.

“We’ll just have to set up camp,” Jaehyun said.

“Wait,” Johnny said, “What’s that?” He pointed a finger to something above the trees. Donghyuck followed his direction to see a trail of nearly transparent white smoke floating across the sky. It was probably near invisible during the day, but with the dark night sky as a backdrop the smoke showed up clearly.

“Is it from a campfire?” Donghyuck wondered.

“Could be,” Jaehyun said, “Should we investigate?”

“What if they’re unfriendly?”

“It could be the witch,” Johnny said.

Donghyuck bit his lip. He wasn’t really eager to follow something that could lead to a camp of bandits or worse, a deliberate trap, but he wanted to stay out in the woods even less. He’d taken a chance on Johnny’s hunches before, Donghyuck reasoned, and last time it had worked out. What was the harm in at least seeing what it was? If worse came to worse, they could all run away.

“We won’t know until we check it out,” Donghyuck said. The other two nodded in agreement. Decision made, the trio picked up the pace to follow the direction of the smoke before it disappeared entirely.

They hurried along for another twenty minutes. By that point the smoke had all but faded into the nighttime air, but they were close enough now that they could see a prick of light in the distance. It looked like the remains of a campfire in the middle of a clearing that was slowly burning down to its last embers. Donghyuck worried that they had been just a few minutes too late to see whoever had made the fire in the first place. When they reached the clearing, all that remained was a pile of coals glowing orange and yellow in the middle of a pit surrounded by stones.

“Well, that was a bust,” Donghyuck said, disappointment clear in his voice.

“Maybe whoever it was set up camp nearby,” Johnny said. “Let’s look around first. If nothing else, this would probably be a good place for us to camp ourselves.”

They agreed and spread out around the clearing looking for signs of any other occupants. Donghyuck didn’t find much aside from the expected scattered stones and a few piles of leaves. “This is useless,” he muttered to Cherry. The horse snorted in what Donghyuck assumed was agreement. He let out an exasperated breath, kicking a rock in frustration. The rock flew through the air toward one of the leaf piles.

Unexpectedly, it made a sound like glass shattering upon impact.

“What the-?” Donghyuck started, jerking backwards.

“Donghyuck?” Johnny called across the clearing, “What was that?” When Donghyuck looked up Johnny and Jaehyun were already jogging toward him.

“I don’t know!” Donghyuck called back, looking at the leaf pile warily. He was uncertain whether it was safe to get any closer to investigate, when suddenly the leaves appeared to glow, or at least something under them did.

Without warning the leaves exploded outward in a fierce burst of wind. The force of the gale blew back Donghyuck’s hair and clothes, and he grimaced as the gusts felt as though they were ripping at his skin. Cherry reared backward in panic, and Donghyuck nearly dropped her reins. He only barely managed to keep a death grip on them.

“Holy shit!” he heard Johnny say distantly.

And then, as soon as the wind came, it was gone. Cherry snorted nervously, but eventually settled down when Donghyuck stroked at her neck. With the leaves blown away, Donghyuck saw a newly revealed mound of earth poking a few feet up out of the ground. A window was set into the mound, almost nonsensically. A pane of the glass was shattered from, Donghyuck assumed, the rock that he had kicked earlier.

There came a grinding noise, like a stone shifting, and Donghyuck watched as a some of the leaves shifted from what he had previously assumed to just be forest floor. The stone door of the hatch came into view as it was lifted up slowly, Donghyuck watching with wide eyes the entire time, before eventually flipping over with a heavy thud. Light shown out from within the hatch allowing Donghyuck to just barely see the top rungs of an iron ladder.

There came a distant rhythmic clanging noise from inside. Someone was clearly climbing up the ladder from who knows how far down. Donghyuck wondered if this was the part where he should run away, but when he turned to consult Johnny and Jaehyun he found that Jaehyun didn’t look the least bit concerned.

“Is that your friend?” He asked, mouth dry.

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said, smiling, “Good work, man. I didn’t even think he might be underground.” Donghyuck was only mildly relieved that this was apparently Jaehyun’s friend and not some murderer squatting out in the middle of the woods. The whole thing was a little too surreal, if he was being honest.

At this point the clanging noise had gotten even closer, and before long Donghyuck saw a pale hand grip the top rung. He tensed in response. He had no idea what the hedge witch might look like. Given Jaehyun’s age, the witch could be decades older than Johnny and himself, and Donghyuck really didn’t want to deal with some cranky old man whose window he just smashed.

The figure hoisted himself into view, and Donghyuck couldn’t help it when his jaw fell open. “This is the witch?” He blurted.

The witch(?) definitely wasn’t an old man. In fact, he didn’t look any older than Johnny did. Donghyuck managed to catch a glimpse of bright pink hair, seemingly incongruous with the whole seriousness of the situation.

“Yep, that’s him,” Jaehyun confirmed.

Donghyuck wasn’t given a chance to ask any more questions, as once the witch had pulled himself out of the hatch he stormed up to the three of them in a blur. Donghyuck involuntarily stepped back, not wanting to be on the receiving end of whatever hex or spell the man might throw.

“Who broke my window?!” The witch snapped. Now that he was closer Donghyuck could make out dark bags under his eyes, as if the witch hadn’t been sleeping well (or at all) for the past few days.

“Uh,” Johnny said, eyes darting to Donghyuck and back to the witch. Donghyuck wanted to roll his eyes at the other man’s complete lack of subtlety.

The witch caught the motion and turned to Donghyuck. “Was it you?”

“Sorry?” Donghyuck squeaked, “Please don't turn me into a newt!”

The witch paused, clearly thrown off by that response. “A newt?”

Jaehyun laughed, drawing the witch’s attention. “Stop scaring the kid, Taeyong.”

The witch, Taeyong apparently, huffed, “He’s the one who scared me! Do you know what it’s like to wake up to a rock flying through your window?”

“It was an accident,” Jaehyun said. He looked at Donghyuck. “Don’t be afraid of him, his bark is worse than his bite.”

“I’ll have you know that my bite is plenty dangerous!” Taeyong said. He was clearly trying to be threatening, but now that Donghyuck was given a chance to see the other man close up, he realized that Taeyong was barefoot and wearing sleep clothes under a makeshift tool belt. His bright pink hair stuck up at odd angles, and he still had crease marks on his face from his pillow. For a split second he reminded Donghyuck of the times when his brother Jinwoo had been unceremoniously yanked from his bed by their mother for breakfast after ignoring her first wake up calls.

“Didn’t you cry that one time you found a dead bird in the forest?” Jaehyun said, “And you made me walk around with you for the rest of the day until we found her chicks? And then you cared for them until they grew up and cried _again_ when you released them?”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t be scary!” Taeyong snapped, though his ears were turning the same shade as his hair.

“And didn’t you get so grossed out by the one time I asked you to gut a fish that you made me do it while you stood six feet away?”

“W-well,” Taeyong muttered, affronted attitude quickly giving way to embarrassment as Johnny snickered. The witch tried to glare at him, but the effect was ruined by how his flush was spreading across his cheeks.

“And didn’t you scream that time you saw a spider-?”

“ALRIGHT!” Taeyong snapped, cutting Jaehyun off, “Are you here for your gold, or what?” Jaehyun grinned but conceded.

The witch turned to look at Donghyuck and Johnny in turn. “And who are you two?”

“We’re Jaehyun’s friends,” Johnny said.

“You have other friends?” Taeyong asked Jaehyun incredulously.

“Hey, I can make friends!” Jaehyun said. Taeyong looked skeptical. “I’m helping them with their quest.”

Taeyong’s eyebrows shot up. “You have a quest?”

“Got the prophecy and everything,” Johnny piped up.

Taeyong looked back and forth between the three of them before he sighed and ran a hand through his already messy hair, making a few strands stick up even more. “Come in. It sounds like you have a lot to explain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jaehyun: Sorry, did we interrupt your sleep?  
> Taeyong, clearly bluffing: I'll have you know I was doing very important witch things!  
> The enchanted stone in the corner of Taeyong's room: Welcome to the Dreamland Podcast-


	7. Journey to the Center of the Hearth

Johnny didn’t really have a frame of reference for what a witch’s house was supposed to look like, but somehow Taeyong’s home still managed to surprise him. After Taeyong warded an area for Cherry to stay above ground, they all watched Taeyong return to the open hatch and start down the ladder. When the witch noticed that none of them immediately moved to follow, he rolled his eyes and waved a hand impatiently before continuing to descend out of sight.

When Johnny looked to Jaehyun for guidance, the dragon just shrugged before moving to the hatch himself and starting down the ladder. Granted, Jaehyun probably had very little to fear from Taeyong with the other man being his friend along with Jaehyun possessing the capability to turn into a dragon, which would likely be able to deal with any problem the man might face. Johnny then turned to Donghyuck for an indication of what to do in this situation, but the other just tilted his head toward the hatch in an unconcerned manner. How common was it in this world to live in a hole in the ground? Apparently more than enough given his traveling companions’ nonchalant manner about the whole thing.

“Heroes first,” Donghyuck said mockingly.

Johnny grimaced. “I don’t know if I want to go down there.” He’d never been particularly claustrophobic, but an underground residence added a whole new level of anxiety (no pun intended). He imagined that Taeyong’s place was probably reinforced with magic to prevent any unfortunate cave ins, but Johnny couldn’t help but recall all the YouTube videos he’d watched at three in the morning after falling down the rabbit hole of recommended clips. Somehow he’d gotten onto a series of videos that listed occasions in history when people had been buried alive with alarming regularity.

“What, do you want to stay up here all night?” Donghyuck asked, folding his arms over his chest. “Fine, I’ll go first if you’re going to be such a chicken about it. You’d probably be able to close the hatch easier anyway.

The younger man moved to the hatch and started down the rungs. He gave Johnny a sarcastic two finger salute before he was out of sight. Johnny stood for a second looking at the hole and wondering if this was really a good idea. Wasn’t this how people died in horror movies?

A howl cut through the air, and Johnny’s head jerked up as he scanned the clearing. There was no wolf in sight that he could find, but he definitely wasn’t eager to stick around and be proven right. With one final look at Cherry, who was completely content to eat the grass in her makeshift warded pen, Johnny rushed to the hole and used nearly all of his arm strength to swing the stone hatch closed above him with a resounding thud. He had no idea how Taeyong managed to move the door himself. The witch’s arms didn’t seem to have much muscle on them, so Johnny reasoned that magic was probably involved.

The climb down was longer than Johnny expected. His palms got progressively sweatier with each step he descended, making him grip forcefully on the metal rungs to prevent slipping. He gritted his teeth and tried not to look up or down as he dropped further and further into the earth lest he lose his nerve and freeze in place. Johnny could hear Donghyuck still climbing below him. After a few more seconds of climbing, he thought he could make out Jaehyun and Taeyong’s voices speaking in hushed conversation, which was encouraging and hopefully meant the bottom wasn’t too much further.

Johnny’s right foot hit the dirt without warning, and he nearly cried out when he felt something below him that was not another ladder rung. He barely managed to stifle his yelp, but he couldn’t help the way his whole body tensed. It was only when he realized that it was solid ground beneath his foot that he relaxed and managed to lower his other foot to the ground as well. Part of him just wanted to collapse onto the packed earth to reassure himself that he’d made it down safely, but Johnny thought that probably wouldn’t look very heroic. It took him an almost embarrassing amount of will power to release the metal rungs from his white knuckled grip and turn around to see where exactly he had ended up. As expected Donghyuck was giving Johnny with a very dry look, but Johnny couldn’t bring himself to focus on that as his eyes darted around the new room he’d stepped into.

The walls of Taeyong’s home were smooth packed dirt, curving slightly as they met the ceiling. There were no torches or lamps that he could see, but balls of soft yellow and orange light bobbed around the room’s corners, giving the place a warm glow. He relaxed minutely when he saw how normal the whole place looked, at least relative to what he imagined he might find in a witch’s house.

Along one wall there were a few overstuffed armchairs along with a low table covered with papers and heavy looking leather bound tomes. Near one of the chairs was a small wooden stand with three cups of tea on it in varying states of consumption. Johnny could imagine Taeyong pulling all nighters in one of those chairs, scribbling away at his journals. The walls were lined with strings of drying plants and herbs that made the entire room smell like the garden center that Johnny used to visit with his mother in the summertime.

There were a two open arches branching off from this main room, one splitting off into the kitchen on the far wall from what he could see through the doorway, and the other two his right led down a long hallway. There were no glowing lights in the kitchen at the moment, but Johnny could make out rows of cabinets and what appeared to be a dark silhouette of a cauldron kept in the far corner.

“Over here you two,” Taeyong’s voice called from the hallway. Johnny turned from the kitchen to see Taeyong standing in the hallway, arms loaded with blankets and pillows. “As much as I’d like to interrogate you about why you thought property damage was an appropriate wakeup call, I’m sure you’re all tired and that particular conversation can wait until morning.”

“Oh, thank the gods,” Donghyuck muttered lowly. Johnny felt an echoing sentiment in his bones as all at once he realized how exhausted he was.

“Guest room’s back here. Sorry I only have one spare bed, but we can lay out some blankets and mats,” Taeyong said, turning down the hallway to enter the last of the three doors on the left side of the hallway.

Jaehyun appeared in the hall then, coming from the same place Taeyong had with his arms also full of blankets and a few woven mats. “Come on, guys!” he beamed.

Donghyuck and Johnny followed after the other two to see Taeyong starting to set up the mats with Jaehyun’s help. The witch waved a hand absentmindedly and two yellow balls of light burst into existence in the middle of the ceiling. Johnny couldn’t help gaping at the casual display of magic.

“Here,” Jaehyun said, snapping Johnny out of his stupor after a few seconds of staring slack jawed at the shimmering orbs, “You and Donghyuck can spread the blankets out, and I’ll help Taeyong get some more.” He passed a pile of bedding to Johnny before disappearing out the doorway with Taeyong following closely behind.

Johnny and Donghyuck quietly began spreading out the blankets over the mats. It wasn’t as nice as a bed, but it was leagues better than sleeping on the forest floor. Once they’d laid out all the blankets and pillows, Donghyuck collapsed face first onto the blankets with a muffled groan. He didn’t appear to be moving anytime soon.

‘Mood,’ Johnny thought.

He was about to follow Donghyuck’s example when Jaehyun and Taeyong arrived with more blankets. Jaehyun laughed upon seeing Donghyuck. “Is he asleep already?”

“I don’t think so,” Johnny said.

“Yes,” Donghyuck said into the blankets at the same time. Jaehyun laughed again and even Taeyong cracked a smile.

“Well, these are all my blankets, so hopefully you’ll all be able to stay warm,” Taeyong said, dropping his pile of blankets onto the room’s one bed. “The bathroom is the first door on your right when you go out in the hall. If you need me, my room’s across from yours.”

“Thanks, Taeyong,” Jaehyun said.

“Yeah, thanks a lot,” Johnny agreed, “We really appreciate this.”

Taeyong waved them both off. “You can thank me by letting me get some sleep.” He waved a hand and the glowing lights overhead dimmed to a dark blue.

“Do you want the bed?” Jaehyun offered.

“Nah,” Johnny said, “I have a nice little nest going over here.” He added a blanket from the pile Taeyong had just brought to the blankets on the mats before flopping down himself. It was surprisingly soft, and Johnny idly wondered if the mats were magically made to be more comfortable than they appeared.

“If you say so,” Jaehyun said, climbing onto the bed. A few minutes of silence passed as they both got comfortable. As soon as Johnny managed to get settled he could feel his eyelids growing heavy. Donghyuck’s breaths had already evened out next to him.

“Jaehyun?” Johnny said.

“Yeah, bro?”

“Thanks for getting us here.”

“Me?” Jaehyun asked, “I hardly did anything. Donghyuck was the one who discovered where Taeyong was.”

“Yeah, but you were the one who told us about Taeyong and had the token and everything,” Johnny said, “And just… I don’t know, it was nice to have a goal after Captain Jieqiong left. For so much of this quest so far, I feel like I’ve just been stumbling around blindly. It was nice to have a concrete destination to try and get to.”

“I’ve heard that can happen when prophecies are vague,” Jaehyun said.

Another beat of silence passed.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do after this,” Johnny admitted. Jaehyun hummed in response. “If you wanted to leave us, I wouldn’t blame you,” Johnny said, “It can’t be fun following around two guys who have no idea what they’re doing.”

There was a pause long enough that Johnny wondered if Jaehyun had actually fallen asleep.

“I want to stay though,” Jaehyun said, “Even if you and Donghyuck aren’t sure about what you’re doing, I want to help you figure it out.”

“Why?” Johnny asked, honestly curious.

“I don’t know,” Jaehyun replied, “I just want to. Maybe it’s because the two of you are the first people in a long time to really try and talk to me. I missed having some good conversation. Also I like hearing about your world and everything, and I want to help you get back because... well, because you're my friend.”

Johnny felt a lump in his throat. God, he really was too sentimental when it got late. “Okay,” he said, not trusting himself to say much more.

“Okay,” Jaehyun said.

Johnny closed his eyes before he got too much more embarrassingly vulnerable. Almost without him realizing it, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Johnny woke up disoriented. The orbs of light above him were still dim, but both Donghyuck and Jaehyun had apparently already gotten up. Was it morning? The lack of sunlight almost lulled Johnny back to sleep if it weren’t for the wonderful smell of cooking meat in the air. Johnny’s stomach rumbled in response to what he could only assume was the scent of frying bacon and warm pancakes. He was abruptly aware of how the last thing he’d eaten was a meager dinner of nuts, berries, and hard bread the night prior.

He struggled to his feet, rubbed at his eyes, and staggered out the door and down the hall still in his rumpled sleep clothes. He found Jaehyun and Donghyuck already sitting on the couch behind the low table in the larger living room area. The table had been cleared of the notes and tomes that Johnny had seen before, and now was laden with plates full of bacon, eggs, pancakes, dumplings, fresh bread and rice. There were pitchers of syrup, milk and what he assumed was a fruit juice of some kind next to boats of sausage gravy and butter.He felt his stomach rumble again upon seeing the spread.

“Morning,” Jaehyun said, waving a fork in Johnny’s direction. He was holding a plate of pancakes smothered in syrup.

Donghyuck gave Johnny’s attire a once over as he poured himself a glass of milk before rolling his eyes and patting the cushion next to him. “Sit. Taeyong made breakfast.”

Johnny scrambled to obey, moving to the seat and sitting down on the cushion so quickly that Donghyuck bounced slightly and nearly spilled his drink. He valiantly ignored the younger’s dirty look as he scanned the table. “This looks great!” he exclaimed.

“Thank you,” Taeyong said, appearing in the doorway of the kitchen. He handed Johnny a plate and a fork. “Dig in.”

“Thank you so much,” Johnny said, pouring every ounce of sincerity into the words. He didn’t even know where to begin on the feast, but eventually settled on loading his plate up with eggs and bacon along with a roll covered in sausage gravy.

“So,” Taeyong said, taking a seat in one of the armchairs next to Johnny, “Since you’re all awake now, may I ask a few questions?”

“Sure thing,” Johnny said, around a mouthful of eggs. Donghyuck elbowed him. Bad table manners probably weren’t particularly heroic, but Johnny hadn’t eaten this well since… probably since the last time he visited his parents for the holidays. A pang of homesickness shot through him as he recalled all the dishes his mother would make whenever Johnny managed to travel back on a school break. He did his best to push the feelings roiling in his gut aside and enjoy the food.

“Alright so,” Taeyong began, “I know why Jaehyun’s here, what about you two?”

“We just wanted to come with him to help him retrieve his horde,” Donghyuck said.

Johnny nodded. “He was injured after an… incident with a group of knights. He’s better now!” he added quickly after Taeyong’s look turned to one of alarm.

“Yeah, all better,” Jaehyun said, lifting the side of his shirt up to show a shiny scar just under his ribs.

Donghyuck made a face, “We’re eating.”

Jaehyun dropped his shirt with a grin. “But also I couldn’t carry them all here if I flew. You remember the horse? Way too heavy.”

Taeyong brightened. “Oh, right! Whose horse is that?”

“She’s mine,” Donghyuck said, “Her name’s Cherry.”

“A wonderful name,” Taeyong said approvingly. Donghyuck puffed up slightly at that, and Johnny got the feeling that Taeyong had just won a few points of the youngest’s favor.

“So you all traveled out here to get the horde,” Taeyong continued, “You said you had a prophecy?”

The trio nodded simultaneously. Donghyuck wiped his fingers on a cloth napkin before pulling a piece of parchment out of his pocket and handing it to Taeyong. “See if you can make any sense of it.”

Taeyong took the prophecy in his fingers gingerly. He quickly scanned down the lines that Johnny had all but memorized at this point muttering a few phrases out loud to himself. Johnny wondered how many prophecies the witch had been exposed to before. It seemed like most people in Czennia were familiar with prophecies, and they weren’t at all rare like they were in the fantasy movies that Johnny had always watched. Though they still seemed to be taken seriously, many of the people the group had encountered so far acted like prophecies were necessary nuisances more than anything else.

“Well?” Donghyuck asked after a few minutes of Taeyong looking over the parchment.

Taeyong sighed. “I can’t tell you much about the prophecy’s contents,” he said regretfully. Johnny felt his stomach sink and he watched Donghyuck’s expression fall slightly, “But,” he added, “You got this from Ten, right?”

Donghyuck sat up ramrod straight. “You know Ten?”

“Yeah,” Taeyong laughed, “We went to the academy together. Ten graduated, unlike me, but I think he just wanted to do his own thing instead of working for the Crown or any nobles.”

“I heard he was just traveling around villages when I saw him,” Donghyuck agreed.

“Wait, who’s Ten exactly?” Johnny asked, feeling out of the loop. He took comfort in the fact that Jaehyun looked just as confused.

“He’s who I bought the prophecy from,” Donghyuck said, “He’s an oracle.”

Taeyong nodded. “He was trained in Divination at the academy. I’m pretty sure he was the head of the class. Nearly got kicked out a few times too.” He laughed.

“How’d he manage that?” Jaehyun asked.

“He almost killed the headmaster once,” Taeyong said fondly. Donghyuck and Jaehyun’s jaws dropped. “It was an accident,” Taeyong hurried to say, “The headmaster was sitting in on one of the classes, and Ten was given the challenge to try and divine something about the headmaster. He was so nervous that he accidentally foretold the headmaster’s time of death. It was whole fiasco because the board of directors had to try and undo the prophecy.”

“Gods,” Donghyuck exclaimed, looking impressed.

“Did they succeed?” Jaehyun asked, a mischievous glint in his eye.

“Partially?” Taeyong said, drumming his fingers against the arm of his chair. “They managed to push back the year, but couldn’t completely undo the date or time. I hear he still gets antsy four days after the winter solstice around half past the sixth bell.” Jaehyun laughed.

“But anyway,” Taeyong tapped the prophecy, “Ten always had a bit of a reputation for being pretty vague in his prophecies, death predictions notwithstanding. Lots of metaphors and stuff. I never was able to wrap my head around divination myself. It just felt so… insubstantial.” He handed the parchment back to Donghyuck, who folded it back up and put it back in his pocket. “Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”

Donghyuck sighed. “It’s okay. We’re kind of used to hitting dead ends.”

“There was one line I might have an idea about though,” Taeyong said.

Johnny perked up. “Honestly, anything we might be able to go on would be a big help,” he said.

“Granted, this is just a theory, but the line about knowledge changing hands,” Taeyong said, “That might be the mage academy or a similar building.”

Jaehyun grimaced. “I’d rather not have to travel there.” Johnny could sympathize. After everything he’d heard about the place and mages in general, he wasn’t very inclined to want to go himself.

“I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment,” Taeyong said, “However, if you’re looking for a certain answer in particular… Especially you.” He turned to Johnny. “You aren’t from this world, are you?”

Johnny nearly choked on his bacon as Donghyuck stiffened beside him. He swallowed hard. “I, uh, no, I’m not. How did you know?”

“Your magical signature,” Taeyong said, waving a hand to the air around Johnny, though Johnny himself couldn’t see anything. “Magic flows through every living creature in Czennia, some more powerfully than others, but with you… it’s not the same type of magic. A different signature as a whole.”

“I have magic?” Johnny asked, eyebrows raised.

“In a way,” Taeyong replied, “It’s not strong enough to cast spells, unless you had a few decades of training though.” Johnny tried not to be too disappointed and failed. Well, there went one childhood dream out the window.

“Oh,” he said, “Well, at least I have my sword.”

Taeyong smiled. “Indeed. But back to my prior point, it’s possible that there could be an answer to how you might return home at the academy.”

Johnny’s heart rate picked up at the witch’s words. “Really?”

“It is a _possibility_ ,” Taeyong emphasized, clearly not wanting to get Johnny’s hopes up too high. “Plenty of the instructors and students at the academy practiced transportation spells. Though nearly all of them were concerning the transportation of substances within this world, it’s not unlikely that someone is studying inter-dimensional travel or summoning. They might have an idea on how to get you home.”

Johnny felt a weight lifting slightly off his shoulders. Finally, he had a good lead on some way to get back home. He tried to tamp down the excitement a bit, things rarely worked out so easily, but it was a good plan that could have some very promising results. He kind of wanted to hug Taeyong in that moment, but refrained from doing so if only because he was pretty sure that he would end up knocking some plates off the table and making a mess along with possibly making the witch mildly to massively uncomfortable.

“Okay,” Johnny said, enthusiasm leaking into his voice, “We should head there next then.” Taeyong and Jaehyun both grimaced at the words and Johnny abruptly remembered the whole ‘kill on sight’ thing. “Oh, sorry.”

He turned to Jaehyun, “You don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to. I know you’ve had bad past experiences with mages. I would never ask you to go there if it would put you at risk.”

“No,” Jaehyun said, though he looked a bit pale, “I’ll be fine. They won’t be able to see through my glamour, I don’t think. And maybe,” he looked at Taeyong, “Could you brew a potion for me? Just to keep my true form hidden?”

“Of course,” Taeyong said. “And I wouldn’t recommend setting out right away. The royal guard is on alert at the capital at the moment. The annual festivities for Czennia’s founding are this coming weekend, and I imagine you’d want to avoid the large crowds and heightened security.”

Donghyuck grimaced, “You’re not wrong.”

“Would you be willing to put up with us for that long?” Johnny asked, “If not, we can always head back to town. You’ve already done so much for us, and I don’t want to impose.”

Taeyong rolled his eyes, though he was smiling. “You’re hardly imposing. My days are pretty boring without company. It’ll be nice to catch up with Jaehyun and hear a bit more about your journey and also complain to someone other than my houseplants. I might put you to work a bit though.”

Johnny nodded vigorously. “Whatever you need!”

“You should be careful about promising something so open ended,” Taeyong said.

“I’ve told him that too,” Jaehyun said.

“We’ve all told him that. You’re too trusting, Johnny,” Donghyuck sighed.

“Hey!”

“It’s not always a bad thing,” Taeyong said, “But you need to be mindful of how powerful words and promises can be.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Donghyuck said. “To keep you from selling your spleen to the nearest Fair Folk.”

Johnny crossed his arms and pouted. “Great. The rest of this week is just going to be the three of you bullying me, isn’t it?”

“Of course, bro,” Jaehyun beamed.

* * *

Donghyuck was helping Taeyong chop vegetables in preparation for the stew Taeyong planned on making for dinner that evening while Johnny and Jaehyun had traveled back above ground to check on Cherry and gather some firewood and herbs. Already a good stock was boiling in a cauldron over a low fire and a few bones floated on the surface. It was fairly fragrant, and Donghyuck could feel his mouth water a bit every time he got a whiff of the smoke lifting gently off the top. He asked Taeyong where the smoke went since he didn’t see anything that might be ventilation in the ceiling, but Taeyong had answered with ‘magic’, which wasn’t exactly helpful. He’d laughed at Donghyuck’s blank expression and pointed to the ceiling of the kitchen which, unlike the rest of Taeyong’s home, was lined with smooth black stones.

“The stones are enchanted in this part to retain the smoke and heat of the fire. It’s how I keep this place warm,” Taeyong explained. “It conserves and redistributes energy.”

Something about what the witch said and the specific magic he described tickled in the back of Donghyuck’s mind, but he refocused on his task of chopping vegetables and decided to think more about that later. “So, is everything in here magical?” Donghyuck asked.

“Well, most of my things have been touched by magic,” Taeyong said, gesturing to a wooden spoon in the cauldron that was stirring the broth by itself, “But as for truly magical things… those are more rare. Most magic needs to be built up over a long time to be truly potent, or it requires a great sacrifice. I’m sure you’re familiar with the mage’s use of ‘equivalent exchange’, right?”

Donghyuck nodded, “Just the basics, though.”

“Well, while ‘equivalent exchange’ captures the essence of what magic is, a more accurate phrase, at least in my opinion, is ‘everything has a price’. In the case of most hedge witch magic, that price is either ‘life’ or ‘time’.”

Donghyuck shook his head. “It’s still confusing to me.”

Taeyong laughed, “I _did_ have to go to a whole academy to learn about it, and I still find myself tripping over the logistics if I think about it too hard. But anyway, my point is that magical things are pretty rare. Although,” he squinted at Donghyuck closer, “You do have something that is magical yourself.”

The crystal under Donghyuck’s shirt seemed to warm in response. He almost startled at the sudden heat having nearly forgotten the weight resting against his collarbone. “Oh,” he said, pulling the crystal out from under his shirt, “You mean this?”

“Yes,” Taeyong said. “May I?” He held out a hand, expression open in a way that Donghyuck realized the other wouldn’t be offended if Donghyuck refused.

Donghyuck hesitated for a brief second, but ultimately pulled the necklace off and handed it over to Taeyong. “Be careful,” he said needlessly.

“I will,” Taeyong said graciously, and he stayed true to his word by taking the crystal gently into his palm. “A protection charm. It’s quite potent despite being fairly new… Did it belong to a family member?”

“My mother,” Donghyuck said, “And it’s as old as I am, so I don’t think it’s that new.”

“I mean ‘new’ in the way that it’s only been through one generation,” Taeyong explained, turning the crystal over, “Typically protection charms are passed down for decades, if not centuries. There are some that have been around since the founding of Czennia that are strong enough to protect a whole castle from harm.”

He handed the crystal back to Donghyuck who quickly looped it back around his neck before tucking it under his shirt. “So mine was surprising to you?”

Taeyong tilted his head thoughtfully, “Familial protection charms, especially from parent to child, tend to be the most powerful. The charm’s ability to protect grows in two ways, either by being passed on to another set of hands or by the user increasing how many things they want to protect.” He looked Donghyuck in the eyes, expression soft. “Your mother must love you very much.”

Donghyuck swallowed with difficulty. “She does.” He pressed a hand against the crystal resting just inches from his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johnny: How did you know what an American breakfast was?  
> Taeyong: What are you talking about? This is a Neauvian breakfast.  
> Johnny: So... Neau is just knockoff America?  
> Taeyong: MAYBE AMERICA IS JUST DISCOUNT NEAU


	8. Raising Hell

The next day Johnny woke up to find that Taeyong’s hair had transformed from bright pink to a shocking cobalt blue. His still sleep hazy brain did a double take once Taeyong had appeared in the kitchen’s entryway with an array of breakfast dishes levitating in front of him. It was a testament to how blindsided Johnny was that he barely batted an eye at the tray of hash browns that went floating past his head to land on the low table in the living room.

“Your hair!” Johnny blurted. Both Donghyuck and Jaehyun looked up from their spots on the couch to see what Johnny was talking about, but apparently didn’t find anything out of the ordinary and went back to their morning meals.

“What?” Taeyong asked, hand reaching up to tug at a lock of blue hair, “Oh, right. I just felt like changing it up today.” He smiled and released the strand. “It’s a pretty simple spell, and one of the first we learned at the academy. Here, follow me.”

Taeyong walked back to the kitchen with Johnny trailing after him, eyes still glued to the top of the witch’s head. The kitchen was large, probably the largest room he had seen in Taeyong’s house, and full of various bowls, plates, utensils and cabinets. A cauldron sat simmering in a corner with some concoction that was currently an attractive magenta color. He followed Taeyong to a counter that bordered the right side of the room where an array of small clay jars were neatly lined up against the wall.

“All magic requires either a price or components,” Taeyong said, “But for something as simple as changing color, the spell is fairly basic. Take a look.”

Johnny picked up a jar hesitantly, glancing at Taeyong for approval. When the witch didn’t say anything he slowly lifted the lid. Inside there was a bright red powder. “What is it?”

“It’s just carmine,” Taeyong explained, “Crushed beetles that are used to make red dye.” He took the jar from Johnny and grabbed a pinch of the powder. The witch proceeded to mutter a few words Johnny couldn’t quite make out before tossing the powder over his head. Instantly, his hair changed to a bright, firetruck red.

“Woah!” Johnny said, gaping at the new shade.

Taeyong laughed. “Pretty cool, right?” He put the clay jar back into the row before opening another one, this one filled with a bright blue powder, and repeating the spell he’d mumbled earlier to change his hair back to the bright blue Johnny had seen before. “As long as I have the dye color, I can change my hair to pretty much any shade imaginable.”

“That’s amazing,” Johnny said.

“It’s a good trick at festivals,” Taeyong agreed, “I could change your hair color too, if you want.”

Johnny paused. His first impulse was to say yes, but he wasn’t sure if he could pull off the same bold shades that Taeyong so effortlessly did. He tried to imagine himself with bright orange hair and grimaced. He’d never been very experimental with his hair color before (usually only venturing into shades of brown), and suddenly having all the colors of the rainbow open to him nearly overwhelmed him with indecision.

“You can think on it,” Taeyong said, amusement clear in his voice as he watched the face journey that Johnny was undoubtedly going through.

“Thanks,” Johnny said, “I just don’t know what would suit me.”

“Well, I’ll be here anytime you want to try something out,” Taeyong said, “But anyway, you must be hungry!”

Now that Taeyong mentioned it, Johnny was starving. His stomach rumbled in agreement. “Yeah,” Johnny said, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

“I made plenty, so help yourself,” Taeyong said.

The two of them headed back out into the living room where Johnny’s stomach growled again as he finally was able to take in the spread on the table. The dishes were all different from the food Taeyong had presented the morning prior, but no less appealing. With another word of thanks, Johnny grabbed a plate and proceeded to load it up with hash browns, sugary donut like pastries, and slices of ham.

“What do you need help with today, Taeyong?” Jaehyun asked.

“I think I have enough firewood and herbs given how many you and Johnny collected yesterday,” Taeyong said. Johnny smiled proudly. Jaehyun had been the one to collect most of the herbs after Johnny had almost picked up a poisonous plant that would’ve given him a painful rash, but Johnny had excelled at chopping logs for the firewood. At least he could swing an axe even though he was still on beginner level with a sword. If only all the enemies on the trip could turn out to be tree monsters, Johnny might have a chance.

“We could go gather water,” Johnny offered.

Taeyong nodded. “That would be helpful. My stores will probably be running low soon.”

“Great!” Jaehyun said with a nod, “Johnny and I can both do that this morning.”

“And in the afternoon you should work on your sword training,” Donghyuck cut in, raising an eyebrow at Johnny. The older winced as he realized how much he’d been slacking on his exercises from Captain Jieqiong.

“Right,” Johnny said without much enthusiasm. Donghyuck grinned evilly and patted the hero on the back.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there to cheer you on while you practice.”

“You mean you’ll be there to bully me?”

“Maintaining humility is an important quality for a hero!”

Johnny groaned and stuffed more ham into his mouth, already beginning to feel his arms ache at what promised to be a very long day.

* * *

The task of rolling the large barrels to the river wasn’t too bad in Jaehyun’s opinion. Taeyong had at least been able to levitate the large vessels up the ladder and said he’d be able to bring them back down as well, so that took care of most of the work. The real problem would be rolling the barrels back once they were full of water, as Johnny seemed to be already struggling with maneuvering an empty one.

“You alright back there, bro?” Jaehyun asked. He glanced over his shoulder to see Johnny fifty feet behind him and fighting to keep the barrel rolling in a straight line.

“I’m trying!” Johnny called back, brow furrowed in concentration. He swore as the barrel swerved off the path and nearly into a tree. “This requires a lot more muscle than I thought!”

“Maybe we should make it part of your training,” Jaehyun suggested, turning back to his own barrel. They weren’t too far from the river now. Jaehyun could already hear rushing water.

“Don’t say that too loudly,” Johnny groaned, “I think Donghyuck will pick up on it somehow.” Jaehyun laughed.

Eventually they made it to the river, and Johnny nearly collapsed against a boulder as soon as his barrel finally came to a stop. Jaehyun grinned as the other nearly collapsed against the rock, panting, and only barely managing to hold himself up with a shaky arm. “We have to get these back, remember?” Jaehyun said.

“Shhhhh!” Johnny wheezed, flapping a hand in Jaehyun’s direction, “Let me savor this accomplishment.”

Jaehyun shook his head fondly, but allowed Johnny a few minutes to catch his breath by going to examine the river. The water was flowing smooth and clear, which was a good sign. Jaehyun was grateful that though the river was much deeper at this point than it was at the start near town he could still see the bottom. The last thing he needed was a river monster sneaking up on the two of them. Which wasn’t to say there couldn’t be something hiding under the mud…

The dragon turned to pick up a large fallen branch that rested a few feet away. It looked long enough to reach the bottom of the river. He stood back from the edge and jabbed at the muddy river bottom. Though he managed to dislodge some large stones and stir up a bit of silt, nothing lunged out to attack him, which was a win in his book.

“What are you doing?” Johnny asked, coming up to Jaehyun’s side. He was still soaked with sweat, but at least was no longer gasping for air.

“Making sure there’s no bottom feeders we need to worry about,” Jaehyun said, “I personally would like to remain uneaten.”

Johnny’s eyes widened, clearly having not expected the task of retrieving water to be so dangerous. ‘He’ll learn soon enough’, Jaehyun thought fondly.

“Uh, good call,” Johnny said, peering into the river suspiciously. “Is that something I should be worried about?”

Jaehyun tossed the branch aside with a crash that Johnny flinched at. “It’s never bad to be cautious,” Jaehyun said, “There are a lot of monsters out there that will take advantage of any carelessness.”

“Right…” Johnny said, not taking his eyes off the rushing water.

“Don’t worry about it now,” Jaehyun said, slapping Johnny on the back. He realized he might have used a little too much force when Johnny winced. “Sorry, bro.”

“It’s all good,” Johnny said, rubbing his arm.

“But anyway, I didn’t see anything in there, so let’s start filling these barrels up,” Jaehyun said, rolling his barrel closer to the river’s edge.

They spent the next half hour or so using pails to dump water into the large barrels. Jaehyun wondered if there was a charm on the barrels to hold more than they appeared capable of, as he was certain he filled the container with enough water for three normal barrels. He wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, Taeyong was pretty efficient with his storage space. Eventually, both he and Johnny had filled their barrels and fixed the lids back on.

“We should head back so we can eat lunch, and then you can get started on your training,” Jaehyun grinned, knowing the long suffering groan it would pull from Johnny.

“Please don’t mention that,” Johnny said, leaning heavily against his barrel. “I don’t even want to think about how much I’m going to hurt tonight and tomorrow morning.”

Jaehyun laughed and was about to bring up Captain Jieqiong’s “10 Step Sword Training Program” as Johnny called it, when he heard a distant, distinctly inhuman moan echo through the trees. His instincts immediately had him on alert, swinging his head toward the source of the sound to see a distant figure shambling toward them. It was still a good distance away, and even with his heightened dragon senses, Jaehyun had to squint to see it.

“Jaehyun?” Johnny asked, tone concerned from the sudden shift in Jaehyun’s demeanor. The noise came again, louder now, and Jaehyun’s heart picked up tempo as he suddenly realized what would be heading their direction. The figure was steadily getting closer, and he was sure that even Johnny would be able to spot it soon.

“Get behind me,” Jaehyun said, tone brooking no argument as he moved between the figure and Johnny.

“What is that?” Johnny asked, clearly having seen the figure as well.

As the creature moved closer its distant shadowy form resolved itself into a stumbling humanoid shape. Jaehyun bared his teeth instinctively as the desiccated remains of a human corpse shuffled closer. The body was clearly in the middle of decomposing. Its flesh was gray and bloated, and its face was disfigured into a permanent silent scream. At the moment, it appeared to be roaming directionlessly, but Jaehyun knew such a creature was capable of dangerous bursts of speed and strength if it sensed prey.

“What the fuck?” Johnny whispered. Jaehyun could hear the sharp snick of Johnny starting to unsheathe his sword, but Jaehyun stopped the motion quickly. The dragon didn’t dare take his eyes off the creature as its head whipped around at the sudden noise.

“Undead,” Jaehyun whispered, “We might have to run if there are more of them. Don’t make any sudden moves.” Jaehyun knew these beasts unfortunately liked to travel in hordes, and if its creator was anywhere nearby…

They were a real pain to fight as well. The creatures didn’t even have the courtesy to stay dead if you ripped them apart. They would continue their slow, shambling marches until they either destroyed their target or a magic user decided to put them out of their misery. Raising undead was even a dangerous game for their creators, as if their concentration slipped even a bit they could very easily wind up on the wrong side of their monsters.

Both of them watched with bated breath as the creature came closer and closer, not looking inclined to veer in another direction. The only bright side was that Jaehyun didn’t hear any more of the creatures approaching aside from the one he saw.

“I’m going to take it out, but as soon as I move I need you to run,” Jaehyun whispered.

“What? I’m not going to leave you here!” Johnny protested.

“You have to get Taeyong,” Jaehyun argued urgently, “He’ll know how to make sure this thing stays dead for good.” At least, Jaehyun hoped the witch knew.

“Jaehyun-“

“Don’t argue, just go!” Jaehyun said, “Ready?”

“Jaehyun-!”

“Now!”

Jaehyun could only pray that Johnny would listen as he darted forward toward the shambling undead. He cursed that he couldn’t shift to his dragon form here with so many trees in the way, but he could at least manage to bring out his claws to rip into the beast. He snarled in disgust as his claws carved easily into the rotting flesh, the undead’s stomach bursting open like a wet paper sack to spew out a mess of black bile and organs.

The undead let out a horrible wail, aggravated but undeterred by the opening attack. It lashed its stiff arms out to try and club Jaehyun, but the dragon darted out of the way. Jaehyun kicked it squarely in the chest making the undead stumble back a few steps, but it quickly righted itself and lurched forward again. Jaehyun barely missed getting its blunt teeth in his shoulder. In the process of dodging, he caught a whiff of the thing. An odious cocktail of rot and death flooded his nose, making his stomach turn. Jaehyun barely resisted the urge to gag.

He had no time to focus on the scent though, as the thing turned itself around frighteningly fast and managed to catch Jaehyun in the side with its arm. Pain exploded in his ribs, and a growl ripped its way out of his throat. His claws shot out to deal a blow at the thing’s neck in response. More disgusting fluid leaked out of it, but the undead just kept coming.

Jaehyun lost track of time fighting the undead creature. Though he landed hit after hit, the thing didn’t even appear to be phased. If anything it only seemed to gain power as the fight dragged on and it became more accustomed to Jaehyun’s moves, or perhaps Jaehyun was just losing steam. He’d never longed to be in his dragon form so badly so he could just spit fire at the thing and be done with it… well, even then its charred corpse might continue staggering after him. For every five fatal attacks he landed, the creature landed its own serious blow, that would send Jaehyun reeling.

Eventually, Jaehyun messed up his rhythm and overextended one of his punches, nearly stumbling in the process. The creature immediately seized its chance, using one of its arms to land a solid blow to Jaehyun’s sternum. Jaehyun wheezed and fell to the ground, the wind effectively knocked out of him. He tried desperately to get back to his feet, but it felt like his chest was caving in. The think had definitely bruised if not broken some of his ribs. His thoughts were scrambled, and he was too exhausted to do more than shift helplessly on the ground.

‘This would be a really shitty way to die,’ Jaehyun thought, tensing as the creature’s hideous face filled his vision. It’s gaping mouth hovered over his own face, dripping bile and saliva onto his cheeks. Jaehyun wondered if his last thought was going to be ‘Gross’.

“ _Ashes to ashes,_

_Dust to dust,_

_What is dead is gone,_

_Pitiful soul ripped from your grave,_

_Rest now and leave no trace!”_

The creature above Jaehyun suddenly began to convulse with shudders. Its skin began to peel and flake off, the bile ran from its wounds faster and faster before the creature gave one last excruciating wail and collapsed on top of Jaehyun in a pile of dead weight, pieces of it coming apart all the while. Jaehyun gasped as the impact jolted his ribs.

“Jaehyun!”Johnny’s voice yelled. Jaehyun wheezed as the weight of the undead’s body was suddenly lifted. The still dissolving body crashed to the ground on Jaehyun’s right. “Fuck, are you okay?!”

“Never better,” Jaehyun managed.

“Well, he’s okay if he can joke like that,” Donghyuck said, though once he entered Jaehyun’s field of vision he could see the concern on the youngest’s face.

“We need to get him back to my house,” Taeyong’s voice said somewhere to Jaehyun’s left, “Johnny can you lift him? Careful of his ribs.”

Despite Johnny’s best efforts, Jaehyun couldn’t help grunting with pain as soon as Johnny picked him up. “Sorry!” Johnny apologized, panic lacing his voice.

“Let’s just get back fast,” Jaehyun muttered through gritted teeth. He tried to maintain consciousness as Johnny began moving, but eventually the pain became too much and Jaehyun’s vision faded to black.

* * *

“Two broken ribs, major bruising on his left side, and a few bite marks on his arms and shoulders. Possible sprained ankle from when he fell,” Donghyuck reported, coming out of Taeyong’s room where they’d unanimously decided to set Jaehyun up at. “Better than being dead, but he’ll need a lot of rest. I’m sure his dragon healing capabilities will help him recover faster, but lots of rest and maybe ice if you have any.”

“I can make some, that’s not a problem,” Taeyong said. Donghyuck turned to Johnny who had been sitting on the couch with his head in his hands for the past three hours since they’d made it back to Taeyong’s place.

Donghyuck sighed. “He’s going to be okay Johnny. Jaehyun’s pretty tough. I’m sure he’ll be back on his feet in no time.” Johnny looked up from his hands but didn’t say anything. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was pale. “It wasn’t your fault,” Donghyuck added. This was apparently not the correct thing to say, as it immediately set Johnny off.

“But I couldn’t help him!” Johnny yelled, shooting to his feet. He started to pace and ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “I just ran away!”

“No,” Donghyuck said firmly, “You ran to get help. Taeyong was the only one who could’ve defeated the undead, and Jaehyun knew that he could hold out long enough for you to get him. He told you to get Taeyong, didn’t he?”

“Yes, but-!”

“No buts!” Donghyuck said, “You handled the situation in the best way you could have. Because you got back so fast, we were all able to get there before he got more seriously hurt.”

“I know, but I just-“ Johnny sighed, “I wish I wasn’t so _useless!_ ”

“You aren’t useless,” Taeyong said, “Donghyuck’s right. Sometimes asking for help is the best option. If you had jumped in their blindly with your sword, you both might have ended up getting injured or worse.”

Johnny still look conflicted, but neither Taeyong or Donghyuck were budging so he ended up just fidgeting in place. “I just. I want to be stronger, so that this doesn’t happen again.”

“Keep training then,” Donghyuck said, “I know this was a pretty extreme encounter, but that’s going to be the reality of what you’re getting into. Not every enemy you face is going to be as reasonable as Jaehyun.”

Johnny huffed, but seemed to deflate at the words. “I… I need some time to think.” He walked back to the guest room and shut the door behind him.

“Let him go,” Taeyong said when Donghyuck turned to follow. “It must be hard for someone not of this world to encounter an undead.”

Donghyuck hummed in agreement. Even for people like him, an encounter with a living corpse was enough to jolt him back to reality after going so long without a real life threatening fight. “I do have to wonder what an undead was doing out here though.” Necromancy was outlawed in Czennia. Everyone was aware of that fact, and anyone caught practicing necromancy was punished harshly by the royal guard if not outright executed.

Taeyong bit his lip. “I was wondering that too. There shouldn't be any mages around here. I couldn’t sense anyone magical nearby either, and there was only the one undead. My best guess is that it was a undead that someone just released from their control, but I have no idea why they would be creating them in the first place.”

“Well, that sounds bad,” Donghyuck said with a grimace, “Someone’s just practicing rogue necromancy and letting their failed projects walk around? That’s a recipe for disaster.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Taeyong said. “I think I’ll make a few calls to some friends to see if they’ve heard anything, but for now… I think we should all try and stay inside as much as possible.”

“No arguments from me,” Donghyuck said, sitting down on the couch. “I’m perfectly happy staying down here and far away from any more of those things. I’m sure the last place a corpse would look for people is sixty feet under.”

* * *

The next morning Johnny was fairly subdued while eating breakfast. The meal looked just as delicious as all of Taeyong’s usual cooking did, but Johnny could barely taste it. Donghyuck was absent from the table, the younger instead trying to coax Jaehyun to eat whenever the dragon happened to be conscious. The thought of Jaehyun sent a fresh wave of guilt through Johnny. He knew running to get Donghyuck and Taeyong the other day had been the right move, but he couldn’t get past the fact that he’d left Jaehyun alone fighting the undead.

‘Some hero I am,’ Johnny thought bitterly as he set a barely touched plate of sausage back down on the table with a little more force than necessary.

Taeyong entered the room then, and sighed as he took in Johnny’s expression. “Still beating yourself up, I see.”

Johnny blew out a breath. “I’m trying not to, but…”

“But you feel like it was cowardly to abandon your friend even after he told you to run,” Taeyong finished, sitting in one of the armchairs. “I understand better than you might think.”

“You do?” Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow.

“When I left the academy,” Taeyong began, “I left behind a friend. We were originally going to try and escape together, but someone caught onto our plan and told the guards. My friend stayed behind to distract the people who were chasing us, and I managed to escape because of his decision. Every day I regret that I didn’t go back for him.”

Johnny blinked, not expecting that. “What happened to him?”

“I don’t know,” Taeyong said, eyes faraway, “I’ve tried to track him down myself, but either he’s trapped in the mages’ prisons where I can’t use my magic to find him, or…” He couldn’t manage to finish, but Johnny could fill in the blanks himself.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Johnny said lamely, wishing he could offer any more than just empty words. He couldn’t imagine going through that type of situatio,n or the kind of guilt that Taeyong must still be dealing with years later. At least in Johnny’s case Jaehyun was still with them. Taeyong didn’t even know if his friend was still alive. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here right now.”

Taeyong managed a smile. “I’m glad you’re here too. We both have regrets, Johnny, but we can’t let them stop either of us from moving forward.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Undead: [shambling and groaning]  
> Jaehyun: Oh no, run Johnny! It's the main plot!  
> Johnny: Can't we just stay with the underground cottage core?!


End file.
